The Journey Home: Three Ways to Ease Back After Spirit Camp

Leaving Spirit Camp is always bittersweet. You’ve spent days surrounded by redwoods, laughter, silence, and stars. Now comes the journey back—a re-entry into daily life. But how you travel home matters. The road can be part of your integration, offering one more layer of reflection before you return to the Bay Area or beyond.

Here are three ways to travel back, each carrying its own rhythm and gifts.

Option 1: The Direct Return — Highway 128 Through Anderson Valley

If you need to return to the Bay Area the same day, Highway 128 is the most straightforward route. Yet even the “quick way” has its magic.

The road winds you back through Anderson Valley, where farm stands and orchards stretch across the valley floor. This is where you can pause, breathe, and close your retreat with simple, grounding stops:

• Hendy Woods State Park
  Before leaving the valley, wander beneath the old-growth redwoods. Their towering presence feels like a blessing, a final reminder of the forest’s quiet strength.

• The Apple Farm or Gowan’s Oak Tree
  In summer and fall, crates of apples, berries, and pears overflow. Taking home fruit from this land is like carrying a piece of your retreat forward—a sweet, tangible reminder of the nourishment you’ve received.

Highway 128 eventually returns you to Highway 101 and onward to San Francisco, where the tempo of the city waits. But if you let them, these small pauses along the way can soften your landing.

Option 2: The Scenic Coast — Highway 1 All the Way Down

If time is on your side, choose the slower, more winding route along Highway 1, following the Pacific south toward the Bay Area. This path is less about efficiency and more about awe.

Leaving camp, the road hugs cliffs and coves, with the ocean always at your side. It’s the kind of drive where you roll down the windows and let the salt air carry the retreat home with you.

• Point Arena
  Stop at the lighthouse or wander a bluff trail where the horizon seems infinite. The ocean here reminds you to keep expanding. Stop at Cove Coffee or Little Green Bean to refuel before heading further along the coast.

• Sonoma Coast
  As you move south, the rugged cliffs soften into sandy beaches. You can choose to cut inland toward Occidental and Sebastopol for farm-fresh food and cozy cafés like Lightwave Coffee, or continue hugging the coast for an even longer trip, stopping through Bodega Bay where the movie “The Birds” was filmed.

• Point Reyes & Stinson Beach
  If you want to stretch the day, make time for oysters at Hog Island in Tomales Bay or brick-oven pizza at Cafe Reyes in Point Reyes, a barefoot pause in the sand at Stinson Beach, and—if you’re really up for it—a final sunset from the top of Mount Tamalpais. Watching the sun sink into the Pacific from that height is a soul-stirring way to seal your retreat. Check on the time of sunset in advance.

This route makes the return to San Francisco itself part of the retreat—a day-long pilgrimage of beauty and pause before the Golden Gate comes back into view.

Option 3: The Luxurious Pause — Orr Hot Springs

For those who want to linger a little longer, there’s a third way. Instead of heading south, go east and book an overnight stay at Orr Hot Springs.

Tucked into the forest, Orr is a sanctuary of steaming tubs, cold plunges, and quiet nooks for reading or resting. After days of community, it offers solitude and deep body care—an intimate bridge between Spirit Camp and your everyday world.

✨ Plan Ahead: Orr requires reservations, often weeks in advance. You’ll also need to bring your own food—they have a communal kitchen for cooking. If you can plan it in, it’s a luxurious landing, letting your body and spirit fully integrate before you even think about traffic or screens.

Re-Entering with Intention

Whether you choose the quick return, the scenic coast, or a restorative soak, treat your journey home as part of the retreat. Drive slowly. Pause often. Let the land itself help you integrate what Spirit Camp gave you.

👉 This post is part of our “Spirit Camp Journey” series:

• Road to Spirit Camp — Preparing for arrival, with stops from San Francisco through Anderson Valley.

• A Day in Mendocino — Exploring cafés, shops, and coastal trails in the iconic cliffside town.

• San Francisco Explorer’s Guide — Ideas if you’re adding time before or after your retreat in the City by the Bay.

✨ The way you leave Spirit Camp shapes the way you return to yourself. Choose the journey that feels right for your re-entry.