In the context of The Retreat, communal environment means the team will be sharing living space. This includes sleeping arrangements, bathrooms, a kitchen, and other living areas. One night is spent camping and 2 – 4 person tents will be provided (along with all other camping materials).
We understand your concerns – slumber parties are few and far between as adults. So we’ll work with you to create separation where it’s necessary. Some options include:
1. Giving the team an option to sleep in the Workshop Room or Integration Room.
2. Creating designated sleeping rooms by gender.
3. Allocating anywhere from one to three private bedrooms for individuals necessitating privacy for any reason.
We’ve found that many of our concerns are not based on reality, but rather, informed by fear and confronting new circumstances. Just like growing up in a family, sharing space is one of the most important components to breaking down the barriers to privilege and seeing each other as human beings. There’s a lot of ways to make it fun and we highliy recommend keeping the format as-is!