NextTribe’s annual “play” retreat in Troncones, Mexico, is one of the best places we’ve found to relax and have fun. That’s a given. But this trip can also be experienced on a much deeper level. The profound transformations in our travelers leave us with lasting memories and a yearning for more experiences like this with other women.

The first year we ran the trip, a Texas woman called and quit her job in the middle of the week, then went home and broke up with her boyfriend. In 2022 — my first trip there — I met an Australian woman who lives in Austin, and now I’m her renter and a new friend, even though she’s almost young enough to be my daughter!

NextTribe loves Mexico! In addition to another Beach Retreat in Playa Troncones, next year, you can join us this October as part of a small group celebrating Dia de los Muertos together.

Our women arrive with shared interests but often with different agendas. A few are ready to do some deep inner work: to rediscover their heart’s desires after a lifetime of giving and caring for others at home and at work. Others just want to have fun, to reconnect with their inner child, to remember what it was like to be carefree and just “play” again. 

Still others are at an inflection point in their lives: making big life decisions about their relationships, how they want to spend their time going forward. Every morning you’ll find women walking along the beach at sunrise, sitting at a table journaling. Some bring sketch pads, and some lie in the hammock and watch the waves before breakfast.

Read more: Marfa and Big Bend: Savoring Art, Nature, and New Friends in West Texas

Reveling in Our Retreat

The setting of this retreat in Troncones, Mexico, is picture-perfect. In a town of fewer than 1,000 residents, behind gorgeously hand-hewn wooden gates, it’s a tiny community of open-air palapas thoughtfully arranged in a semicircle facing the stunning, elegant yoga platform and the sea beyond. Every morning the sandy paths are cleared of bougainvillea petals, raked in zen-like swirls around the individual cottages named Compassion, Harmony, Joy, Intuition. Breezes through the palm trees release tiny white coconut flowers into the pool, which is also cleaned every morning before the guests awaken for the daily 8AM meditation class or 9AM yoga, both optional. 

Every morning, the sandy paths are cleared of bougainvillea petals, raked in zen-like swirls around the cottages.

Not a single guest who comes onto the property fails to notice the soft blanket of peace and serenity in this small patch of land at the edge of the warm waters of the Pacific. Maybe it’s the crystals the owner’s son buried under the sandy soil around the pool and on the path to the ocean. Maybe it’s the sweet songs of native orioles, golden vireos, or painted buntings. Maybe it’s all the little places to “just be,” like the two big chairs in the open-air library, a comfortable place to just sit and read or watch the waves. Or the two hammocks under the shade of the graceful mangroves, with their gray, aging branches wrapping each other in a gentle embrace.

Set and setting are everything when life has had its way with you. Present Moment Retreat invites you to do everything, or do nothing, which can be everything you need. That’s why we keep going back year after year. 

Let the Bonding Begin

This year, 10 of the 12 women who came on the Troncones trip were solo travelers. One was returning for the third time. On day one, most of us were strangers. By day two, none of that mattered.

Even the two who knew each other — college roommates living in different cities who try to get together once a year — spent plenty of time on their own as well as getting to know the other women.

The retired school nutritionist from Bozeman, Montana, formed a new friendship with the New York tech attorney. The attorney’s roommate, an engineer from Northern California, is considering a career change to the healing arts, and she spent time with the Los Angeles-based acupuncturist who specializes in the Tapas Acupressure Technique. 

Also on the trip: a woman who’d spent her childhood moving around so much, she said it made her resilient. And a professional photographer, a redheaded HR manager (she had the best playlist for the dance party), two fluent Spanish speakers: one who grew up in Cuba and one who spent time doing aid work in Central and South America. 

Who could have thrown a dinner party with a more interesting mix of people? 

Who could have thrown a dinner party with a more interesting mix of people? Seeing all of them in conversation around the pool, at dinner, or on an excursion was like watching a magic show: You don’t know how it’s done, but the results always surprise and delight you.

When the nurse midwife had first arrived, she’d told me privately that she’d just come from seeing her mother, who was on home hospice and not expected to live much longer. “If something happens while I’m here, I’ll have to decide what to do,” she said, “but my sister is there with her so she’s in good hands.”

Navigating the Trip’s Turning Point

Three days later, during morning meditation, she felt her mother come to her and reach for her hand. An hour later, in the middle of her yoga class she suddenly had to lie down. She felt her mother’s presence, and said, “Suddenly I felt connected to women going back generations, to her, to myself and my daughter. It was a profound moment of death as rebirth.”

After yoga class she called and discovered that her mother had indeed passed away. 

Her roommate, a loving and compassionate solo traveler on her first NextTribe trip, let us all know what had happened. That evening at dinner, the grieving nurse told us she’d decided to stay rather than return to the States. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be,” she said. “I feel so supported. There’s nothing I can do. This is what I need.” 

Despite the grief she was feeling, she said, ‘I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. I feel so supported here.’

This is not your typical report of a group trip. NextTribe is not a typical group. Never has been.

Somehow the trips get designed and put up on the website, and somehow the right people seem to find them and book them. There couldn’t have been a more respectful, sympathetic, and considerate group of guests than this one. It was as if we were all meant to be together to share this experience with her and with each other.

After my second time at the Troncones retreat, I think it’s a confluence of history, geography, design, and people that makes this particular NextTribe trip so special. By the second night, every member of the waitstaff knew our names. The same chef was there cooking delicious and beautifully presented organic food. The healthy and substantial breakfasts are especially noteworthy, and by the end of the week, nobody wants to leave.

Add to that the type of women who are aging boldly. Women who are brave enough to sign up for a trip with a bunch of strangers and humble enough to open up and share their vulnerability. Willing to ask for support, advice, or privacy. What could be more beautiful than that kind of inner strength?

That’s the recipe for a memorable travel experience. That’s why we keep going back. 

Several of the women who came to Troncones in March have already signed up for the 2025 trip. 

Read more: The 10 Best Beaches in Mexico: A Connoisseur’s Guide

Jeannie Edmunds is COO of NextTribe, and the author of “Start Me Up: Tips, Tales, and Truths about Starting Up and Starting Over.”

Top photo by Priya Shrinivasan

All other photos by Cheryl Klauss.