BIG BLUE 2025 in Amorgos Greek Islands with Tiffany Sun
The Why: Why We Only Host Five or Six Retreats a Year
People ask me two questions all the time. The first: Why don't you run more retreats?
It's a fair question. Every one of our 2026 retreats sold out: Isla Mujeres, Bali, Sardinia and Baja. The easy answer would be to add more dates, more destinations, more groups.
But we host five or six retreats a year. That's not a limit we're trying to grow out of. It's the whole idea.
Where it started
I'm a native Greek living in the USA, and every summer I go back to Greece to explore an island I've never seen, make new friends and discover how different each one is.
On my first visit to Koufonisia, I set out with friends on small rib boats in search of secluded beaches. We spent the whole day in the sea. On the way back came one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life: the Aegean calm and endless, the water crystal clear, and my friends all around me.
I was far from home, and yet I felt more at home than ever.
I knew I wanted my friends in the USA to feel this too: to experience Greece the way the locals do. A friend pointed me to Corona Borealis on Naxos. I took the first boat over, met the owner Anita and planned my very first retreat on her new Hotel in Koufonisia EROS KEROS.
After Greece, I realized every country must have something just as amazing to offer: its own landscapes, its own food, its own way of welcoming people. So I started venturing out, from Mexico to Bali to Italy to Galapagos Islands, looking for places that give guests that same feeling I had on Koufonisia.
That's what I've been building ever since: not trips, but time. Real time away, in new places and cultures, with people who become friends.
PVOLVE 2026 ISLA MUJERES
Why only five or six
Because I'm at every single one. I don't hand our retreats off to someone else to run. I'm there from the welcome circle to the last goodbye. I know your name, why you came and what you're hoping to leave with. That's not something I'm willing to give up so we can grow, because it's the thing that makes an XPLOREFIT retreat what it is.
Because a small group becomes a real community. Something happens around day three of every retreat. The people who arrived as strangers start saving seats for each other at dinner. Someone who swore they couldn't do a headstand is laughing upside down. By the closing circle, there are plans to travel together again. That only happens when the group is small enough for everyone to really know each other.
Many of our guests come back again and again, some for their third or fourth retreat. That's the community we're building, and it's the part I'm proudest of.
For me, it's also deeply personal. My family is in Greece. Over the years, my guests have become my friends, and some have become so close that I consider them family. That's something no bigger, busier version of XPLOREFIT could ever give me.
Because every retreat is built from scratch. None of our retreats are copy-and-paste. Each one is shaped around the place, the teacher and the people in it, from a Blue Zone village in Sardinia to the Sea of Cortez in Baja. We partner with teachers we love, like Caramia Tambornino, Suzanna Spring, Tiffany Sun, Laurie Gallagher and Malia Hill, partners like PVOLVE and life long friends and we design every day so there's room to move, to rest, to explore and to simply be.
Hosting fewer retreats is what gives us the time to do that properly.
The other question: why don't you teach every retreat?
This is the second thing people ask me. I'm a teacher, so why don't I lead every retreat?
Because when you're teaching, you're at the front of the room. You're guiding, holding the space and thinking about the next pose. It's beautiful work, but it doesn't leave much room to sit with someone at breakfast, hear their story on a long boat ride or notice when someone needs a quiet moment.
I love teaching, and I always will, so I lead one retreat each year. In 2027 that's Tonic of Wildness in Mallorca, with Suzanna Spring. But never more than one, because the rest of the time I choose to be the host.
I bring in teachers I trust and admire, and that frees me to do the part I love most: being with you. Getting to know every guest, making sure each person feels at home, and building the friendships that bring so many of you back year after year.
Teaching gives a class. Hosting gives me the whole retreat, and all of you.
The gift of time
If there's one thing I've learned from years of hosting, it's that time is the thing we never give ourselves. We give our time to work, to family, to everyone who needs us, and we tell ourselves we'll rest later.
A retreat is permission to stop waiting for later. Five or six days where your only job is to show up: for the morning practice, for the swim, for the long dinner, for yourself.
That's the why. Not more trips. Better ones.
Where we're going next
Our 2027 season takes us to Greece and Spain:
Big Blue Yoga & Swim: Amorgos, Greece · June 19–25 · with Malia Hill
Pvolve Fitness Retreat: Amorgos, Greece · August 23–29 · Aegialis Hotel & Spa
Tonic of Wildness: Mallorca, Spain · September 1–6 · with Suzanna Spring and me
Deep Dive Yoga: Oliva, Spain · September 12–18 · with Caramia Tambornino
Same as always: thoughtfully put together experiences built with care, and I'll be there.
If one of them is calling you, get in touch. I'd love to hear from you.
With love,
Katerina
Founder, XPLOREFIT
