UNPLUG
Experience a slower pace where you are encouraged and supported to disconnect in various ways as you melt into the calmness of this rural area of Tennessee.
Each customized retreat includes a guided forest excursion - Forest Bathing / Forest Therapy - where you can enter airplane mode and just embrace the natural surroundings in a particular moment.
Reconnect with your inner child and discover new passions or talents. Sink into the ability to wonder and cherish the human capacity to wander - mentally or physically. Rest and reboot.
Camp Wonder Wander is the opposite of hustle and bustle. This is a one-of-a-kind place in rural foothills of mid-south Tennessee that provides an automatic nature immersion where you'll notice fresh air and the sounds of birds, donkeys, and wildlife such as insects or frogs. The small scale privacy allows you to escape the digital and demands of your every day life with an invitation to slow down.
Listen to your inner voice that is asking you to channel the inner child with an intentional nature immersion retreat with a creativity twist.
Unlike a hotel, resort, or vacation rental, Camp Wonder Wander offers a customized hospitality experience that includes interaction with the land and the animals. Each retreat is customized so you can't just click a buy or book-now button. Engage in the human interaction of correspondence (no ai agent or chat helpers here) as we schedule your retreat based on your availability window and the vacancy calendar as retreats are not scheduled back to back.
Unlike a hotel or resort, there aren't a bunch of other people around. Instead... Here you can HUG Donkeys!
Each retreat package includes a guided Forest Therapy walk also known as Forest Bathing on a path of land that encourages and allows you to engage in the sensory experience of the forest, the meadow, and even a lazy river with a rocky riparian zone. Additional elements of your retreat package may include a variety of creative workshops or even a cooking class and depending on the size of the group or length of stay homemade meals may be included with a menu geared towards your preferences.
Start the conversation here to begin your plans or visit one of the retreat package pages in the menu bar above. Below is an at-a-glance of the various retreat package options where you can also click to be taken to another page for more information.
If you want to primitive camp on the bluff above the Buffalo River, more info here.
If you have a creative practice that you want to revive or focus on for a week or more, consider applying for an intentional retreat in the form of a residency. More info here.
retreat OPTIONS
SPECIAL FEATURES
HOMESTEAD EXPERIENCE
Have you hit the burn-out moment where you realize you just need a chance to switch gears and get physically active on the land doing traditional chores? A little bit of sweat equity in the fresh air can do wonders to rejuvenate the soul. Maybe you live in an apartment and can't tend to landscaping or animals. Each retreat add-on will be customized to the season and the general needs or options available at that time. Picking up sticks, digging or transplanting, feeding animals, and more options may be just what the body and mind are begging to experience.
REBOOT.
REST.
REJUVENATE.
REEVALUATE.
RECONNECT.
RECOLLECT.
RESTORE.
REIGNITE.
REINVIGORATE.
REFRESH!
star-gazing in one of the LAST LIGHT POLLUTION FREE ZONES in the state of Tennessee
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LODGING & LOGISTICS
Approximately 20 minutes drive from the small historic town of Hohenwald on a well-maintained state highway, you'll land at the camp location that includes 5 acres with the lodging, animals, and arts spaces as well as 12 acres across the street with about 500 feet of river frontage and a beautiful bluff area that people love for sitting or primitive camping.
This is an organic art organism as artists and writers are also scheduled for longer stays and may possibly be on site in other lodging as they work on intentional projects.
The two main lodging options are the Lemon Lodge and a smaller house - Raspberry Residency - usually geared towards the residency program, but available when not used for that purpose. Houses are approximately 300 feet apart and the neighbors houses across the street are set back about 100 or more feet from the road.
Lemon Lodge is a fully furnished lodge with a primary bedroom ensuite with king bed, a second private room with a full bed, a large multipurpose room with two twin beds and large table, and for larger groups there are 7 twin beds in a second floor loft. The hall bathroom has a walk-in shower while the ensuite has a tub/shower. You have use of the full kitchen and the living areas. Porches on front and back as well as plenty of outdoor space. Parking available for multiple vehicles. Typically the basics in the kitchen include general coffee, tea, water, and some cooking spices. Depending on your retreat package, your meals might be prepared for you in this kitchen or brought to you.
The Raspberry Residency is approximately 1000 sq ft and is more colorful arts decor. The ensuite features a full bed along with a twin bunk, a shower stall, and a tub. On the other side of the house you'll find two single rooms and a bathroom on the hall with a shower stall. It's Art galore in this house even a giant collage on the walls in the ensuite bathroom, photography by your host, and numerous leave behind fine art pieces or tokens like drawings by previous artist participants.
*Alcohol will not be served and you are encouraged to limit or stop your consumption while on site. Smoking/vaping is not permitted and discouraged. If you are trying to break the habit, please mention this in your inquiry form. Use nature as your drug of choice here.
LOSE | YOURSELF
DISCOVER | YOURSELF
WHY retreat @
camp wonder wander?
Established to provide people with an important opportunity to take a moment out of the whirlwind of today's society to embrace your individual human experience and connection with the natural world.
The world is spinning too fast and technological advances are mind-blowing as to how they are affecting all facets of our lives. You may love your fast-paced life or you may be feeling burned out for some reason. Your host and guide became a bit disenchanted with this tech and urban progress after years as a University professor (of graphic design). After seeing the reliance on smart devices become extremely pervasive and the resistance to put them down for even a short break of fresh air outside, Val decided to walk away from that career and tenure (at 50) to live a more intentional life closer to nature in order to share this with you.
If you have a yearning to have a garden (but can't), have backyard chickens (but can't), or know that something is missing in your current life, booking a retreat is a way to honor that inner voice. If you are looking for an opportunity to increase the bond you have with others in your inner circle by intentionally disconnecting to transport to a bygone era where you can just sink in and let your body slow down, then this retreat space is designed for you.
This is a secular place with philosophy grounded in the humanities including the cultural arts. Forest therapy is based on research in Japan about the scientific benefits of being around trees and the sensory engagement in the surroundings.
a shift in place and time
dislocates the 'blahs'
WHY Subscribe?
The owner operator and host/guide lives on and maintains this property. As the years progress, Val who did not grow up or have previous experience with rural living has become extremely concerned about the importance of protecting our farms and forests as the ecosystem is the most important aspect of the human experience on planet earth.
Therefore, Val is reluctant to participate in the social media infrastructure that is beginning to take over the important landscape to turn it into industrial wasteland ruining it for all species. Once farmland is developed, it can never be farmed. We must be concerned about our food system and beyond.
In order to reduce a footprint in the demand for data center infrastructure, any information about this place will not be shared on any social media platforms. If you want updates, you should subscribe here for the very infrequent newsletters - also a conscious attempt to not invade your inbox as well as having the time as a sole proprietor to manage all of the other aspects of Camp Wonder Wander and the artist/writer residency program.
Newsletters are infrequent - most often 1x or 2x per year. There's no other way to see updates because Val has decided to have a social media blackout for many reasons.
Bookmark this page so you have it handy when you are ready to schedule your retreat!