Global Nomad Retreat

Since October 2007, JANERA.com has been organizing global salons, drawing eclectic groups of interesting, dynamic and engaged globetrotters to discuss important economic, social and political topics affecting the current state of the world (see international press coverage below).

Participants in the Global Nomad Retreat will have plenty of time to engage in relaxing and restorative activities-lounging by the pool, roaming the surrounding countryside, visiting area wineries, shopping and strolling through neighboring towns-punctuated with sessions of yoga, meditation and structured conversation, during which guests will have the chance to offer their personal perspectives and define what it means to be a Global Nomad.

PROGRAM
You will be picked up in Rome on Sunday afternoon on September 7 and be driven to the villa for the kick-off meal.

Yoga and meditation will take place first thing each morning, along with additional Restorative Yoga sessions in the afternoon led by world-renowned instructor Narween Otto. Open Space-type conversations follow, easing into an evening of cocktails, dinner and additional conversation

Loose schedule:
8.30 – Yoga and Meditation (2 hrs)
10.30 – Breakfast
Morning – Leisure
13.00 – Lunch (self-prepared)
Afternoon – Leisure
16.00 – Restorative yoga (1.5 hr)
17.30 – Time to get ready for dinner
18.30 – Open Space conversations
19.30 – Cocktails
20.00 – Dinner (prepared by cook)

During dinner, we will invite one or two guest speakers to enlighten and entertain us with his/her expertise on a pre-selected subject of global significance.

One evening we will visit a vineyard, and another we will go to a local trattoria.

On Saturday September 13, after the morning meditation, yoga and breakfast, you will be taken back to Rome.

OPEN SPACE
The JANERA.com team will facilitate Open Space conversations and compile the findings, which we hope will become the basis for I am a Global Nomad –the seminal handbook for our global tribe.

During the Open Space, every guest will be given the opportunity to express her/his vision of what it means to be a Global Nomad. These presentations can take any form, and are encouraged to be provocative, creative, light or academic.

Discussions will be recorded on video, edited to an engaging 3-minute podcast to be published on JANERA.com, and transcribed to serve as the foundation for the Global Nomad Handbook.

GUESTS
Attendance is by invitation only, and the group is limited to 10 guests.

Guests are, essentially, global nomads: Those folk who feel at home everywhere and nowhere, who are influenced as much by what happens in London as in LA, and who have strong opinions about how the energies of globalization can be channeled to make the world a more open, constructive and healthier place.

The group will consist of entrepreneurs, journalists, writers, economists, artists, development consultants, and other global professionals and creatives.

PRICE
Cost per person is US$2.100/Euro 1.400, (based on double occupancy).

The fee covers room, board (all meals, but not all wine), yoga and ground transportation to the Villa from/to Rome. Air travel is not included.

To explore the region, renting your own car (or sharing with fellow guests) is highly recommended.

There are twin and double rooms, which means that some of you may share not only a room, but also a bed, with a fellow guest. Bring your partner or a friend, should sharing be undesirable.

SUGGESTED READING

    * Superclass, David Rohtkopf (influence)
    * The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home, Pico Iyer (literary perspective)
    * The Post American World, Fareed Zakaria (globalization)
    * The Second World, Parag Khanna (globalization)
    * Cosmopolitanism, Kwame Anthony Appiah (academic perspective)
    * The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferris (lifestyle)
    * Relax and Renew, Judith Lasater (benefits of restorative yoga)

ORGANIZER
Janera Soerel, an economist, is the Founder and Publisher of JANERA.com. She worked in investment banking in Italy and Holland before enrolling at Columbia University in New York. Here she graduated with a dual MBA and Masters in International Affairs.

Raised in Curaçao by Surinamese parents, Janera became a Global Nomad through her travels. She discovered in the process how people from diverse backgrounds can have much in common. She is fluent in five languages, and has lived in Washington DC, London, Santiago, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Milan, and New York.

Her goal in founding JANERA.com was to provide a space in which to tell stories about globalization from a human perspective. She examines the many ways fellow nomads-who, like her, operate in the space between groundedness and restlessness-socialize in their adopted environments. What is the role these self-determined nomads play in both their local and global communities?

She launched JANERA.com and its related global gatherings in 2007, to connect this disparate yet ever-growing group of individuals.

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Of Vietnamese and Australian ancestry, Narween Otto, has studied yoga in India and Nepal.

She lives in downtown New York and teaches SuperStretch for Men and Women, Yoga, Meditation and Pilates for private clients and group classes.

She leads workshops and retreats within the United States and internationally. Her clear, detailed, unpretentious and playful style of helping people to stretch and strengthen their bodies and minds makes her a good fit for men and women who approach life and wellness from an open-minded place.

To participate email Janera Soerel at [email protected], or call +1 917 573 9488.