I love my life, and like many of you the path to get here has not always been paved with gold.  There was a time I didn't know how I was going to feed my kids and keep the bills paid, but this has just made me stronger. Through all of this, my belief in me was strong and I knew there was light at the end of a sometimes dark journey.

 

It has made me passionate about women walking the path of their destiny. This is because for such a long time I was lost - lost in a place that made me feel like Alice in Wonderland. I didn't know what path I was taking and I couldn't see any way out. 

 

My story is similar to others out there - a sad marriage, dodgy relationships, a tsunami (ok not so typical), and an almost tragic accident showed me that life was too short to be trapped, that I had to make the decision to find who I was again. This meant 4 aha moments and a life-changing journey or two - Vietnam Rainbows, The Grand Canal, Istanbul, and The Trevi Fountain. Moments and places that changed my life. It started when I watched Eat, Pray, Love which lead to a solitary adventure with my two sons in Asia for three months, many said I was brave or crazy, but while I was there I found me again. 

 

Which was when my life changed. 

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I remembered the girl that was inside of me, the girl who was full of love, wonder and yearning, and the one whose goals included travel. I started the journey to the new me - I had a new inner peace, found the love of a man (when I wasn't even looking) who loved me without conditions, and I could finally be the mother I knew I was. 

 

I knew I was whole. I knew I was at peace. It was then that I could make a decision to take a leap of faith, one that had me leaving the only career I had ever known because I wanted others to see the beauty within them, to travel the path that made them feel whole and connected and at peace. 

 

So a yearning to run retreats on a bigger scale and show others how to as well was born - my 22 plus years of experience in running summits, conference and leadership retreats mixed with my passion for travel and taking others away on amazing holidays evolved into The Retreat Specialists. 

 

I love that I get to do the thing I am meant to be here to do. Through Retreats, I get to support women to walk the path of their destiny. To step them from the ordinary to the extraordinary where, just for a moment, they get to totally reconnect with who they are and who they want to be and once that connection is made the ripple effects are long-lasting. I am a woman of conviction, passion, and knowledge. I am Liesel Albrecht - The Retreat Specialist and this was whom I was born to be.