Last year's gathering: a courtyard in Mexico City with a painted mural, ivy-covered brick, and mats laid out for a session

The Space Between Series

Un Poco de Planning

Eight days in Medellín with forty friends, ending the year on purpose instead of by accident.

  • Dec 27 to Jan 3
  • 40 friends
  • Medellín, Colombia
  • Kids welcome
  • Invite only
Reserve a spot$500 depositSee the week

The idea

Clarity comes easier in the company of people you admire.

Most of us have tried the solo version. A notebook, a quiet morning somewhere between Christmas and New Year, and a real attempt to work out what the year meant and what should come next. It is a good instinct, and it gets you some of the way. It also has a ceiling. On your own you only see what you already know how to see, and you tend to arrive at the same few conclusions you arrived at last year.

What changes it is who else is in the room. Not a facilitator and not strangers, but people whose lives you genuinely admire and whose judgment you trust. People who know your history well enough to notice when you are talking yourself into something. Saying what you want out loud in front of them makes you more honest about it, and it gets you better questions than you would have thought to ask yourself.

That is what the eight days are for. Look back at the year with some honesty, work out what you actually want from the next one, and leave with intentions specific enough to act on. The calendar happens to turn over in the middle of it, which gives the whole thing a natural line to step across.

There is a clear arc to the week, but nobody runs it from the front. Small pods design and run each session, so the thinking belongs to the people doing it, and everyone is on the hook for something.

A letterboard reading Un Poco de Planning among potted plants
Everyone working at long tables under the greenhouse roof
A friend leading a session for the group

Who comes

Forty people worth thinking alongside

  • Artists, musicians, builders, and founders making something of their own
  • Community builders, and the ones who always end up organizing dinner
  • People who nerd out on planning systems, and people who wish they did
  • People trying to live in a way that actually looks like them
  • People who want to be asked better questions than they ask themselves

Focus, then rest

Real working blocks in the morning, genuine downtime in the afternoon, and dinners nobody is in a hurry to leave.

Nerding out on how you plan

Everyone turns up with some version of a system already. Bring yours, take the whole process apart with people who care about this, and nobody leaves planning quite the way they arrived.

Everyone leads a piece

The week follows a clear arc, worked out well in advance. The sessions along it are designed and run by small pods, so the leading is shared rather than handed to an organizer.

Leave with it written down

Not a feeling. A vision, goals with dates attached, and systems that still hold up in February.

Bring the kids

Kids are welcome here

If you have them, bring them. Not tolerated at the edges, actually welcome. Childcare runs on site during the working blocks, so parents get to be properly present instead of half in the room. Plenty of people come without kids, and the week is the same week either way.

Two reasons we bothered. The first is that parents deserve a real block of focused time for this, not twenty minutes borrowed from somewhere else. The second matters more: kids should get to watch adults they love sit down and think honestly about their lives. Most of us never saw that happen. Theirs can.

Childcare, covered
On site during the working blocks and already sorted. Nothing extra for you to arrange.
Focused time that stays focused
The morning and afternoon sessions are genuinely yours.
Kids in the room for the rest
Meals, evenings, the closing circle. They see the whole thing happen, which is the point.

Tell us ages when you reserve and we will size the care to the group.

The week

Eight days, each one doing a different job

December 27, 2026 to January 3, 2027. The arc runs from looking back honestly, to deciding what you want, to building the systems that carry it, and ends with everyone teaching what they know.

  1. Dec 27

    Sunday

    Arrivals

    Land, drop your bags wherever you are staying, and come find us. Dinner together, introductions, and no agenda beyond starting to settle in.

  2. Dec 28

    Monday

    Context and Reflection

    Group agreements and intentions, then a session on why we are all here. We start from the work you already did at home rather than a blank page, and give the whole day to the year behind you: the highs, the lows, a walk back through your own calendar, and small groups where people who know you well catch what you glossed over. Evening circle and a letting go ritual.

  3. Dec 29

    Tuesday

    Vision Crafting

    Values, purpose, and the long view. Map the domains of your life and look honestly at the one you have been avoiding. Peer coaching in small groups, where the point is better questions rather than advice.

  4. Dec 30

    Wednesday

    Adventure Day

    No sessions. Comuna 13 and its murals, the Metrocable up the hillside, the coffee, the markets, and a great deal of food. For anyone who would rather go inward, there is an optional ceremony in the afternoon with quiet space held around it.

  5. Dec 31

    Thursday

    Direction and New Year's Eve

    Back to the vision with more room to get specific about direction, and a good day to sit with whatever Wednesday surfaced. Then the New Year's Eve party, and intentions set together at midnight.

  6. Jan 1

    Friday

    Strategic Mapping

    A slow start, then turn the vision into goals with dates attached. OKRs, habit stacking, a personal Life Dashboard. Get it into one document that survives the trip home, and pair up with someone who will actually check in on you come April.

  7. Jan 2

    Saturday

    Unconference

    Everyone teaches something. Sessions get proposed in the morning and run through the day, on whatever the people here actually know: the craft, the tools, the hard-won stuff you cannot get from a book. Closing dinner and a gratitude circle that runs long.

  8. Jan 3

    Sunday

    Departure and Re-entry

    One last morning ritual, goodbyes that take longer than anyone plans for, and home with something you actually intend to follow.

A normal day

8:00 to 10:00
Optional movement or mindfulness, then coffee
10:00 to 12:00
Focused working session at the venue
12:00 to 2:00
Lunch out, which tends to run long
2:00 to 5:00
Afternoon working block
Evening
Dinner, wandering, or wherever the evening goes
Medellín held in its green valley, the city rising toward forested mountains under a clear sky

The setting

Medellín, Colombia

Medellín sits in a valley at about seventy-two degrees every day of the year, which is why they call it the city of eternal spring. We gather around El Poblado & Laureles: leafy, walkable, full of good coffee and cheap rides, and easy to cross by metro. Everyone books their own place to stay, and we will cluster close enough to walk to each other.

Eternal spring

Seventy-two degrees year round. No winter, no packing a coat.

Creative

Comuna 13, its murals, and a city that rebuilt itself in public.

Green

The botanical garden below, and Parque Arví up the cable car.

Last year in Mexico City

What the week actually looks like

Last year’s edition. Same people, same rhythm, different country.

The whole group piled together for a photo in the greenhouse
A friend playing during an evening session
Two friends co-leading a session in the greenhouse
Long tables and laptops seen from above
Three friends sharing with the group in front of the greenery
Friends playing music together during an afternoon session in the courtyard

Shared costs

Roughly $700 per person for the week

A shared bill, split evenly. Everyone books their own place to stay this year, which keeps the number small and lets you pick your own budget. The final figure lands on Dec 1, once we know how many of us there are.

What the money covers

The venue
Where we meet each day
An event producer
Runs logistics all week so the pods can focus on sessions
Childcare
On site during the working blocks
Sessions and materials
Whatever the pods need to run them
Coffee and snacks
Stocked daily at the venue
A few group dinners
Opening and closing nights

What is on you

Flights
Book your own
Lodging
Book your own for the eight days
Most meals
Pay as we go around the city
Getting around
Metro and taxis, both inexpensive

Key dates

  1. Oct 1

    Flights and stays shared

    Post when you land and which neighborhood you are leaning toward, so anyone who wants to split a place can find each other.

  2. Oct 10

    Accommodation booked

    Book your stay. Holiday week in Medellín fills up earlier than most people expect.

  3. Dec 1

    Final contribution confirmed

    The number lands once we know headcount and which space we book.

  4. Dec 15

    Homework goes out

    Two to three hours of reflection to do before you travel, so the days together go to each other rather than to solo work.

  5. Dec 27

    Arrivals in Medellín

    Settle in, dinner together, introductions.

Hold your place

$500 holds one spot

Forty spots, first come. Your deposit holds your place while you sort out flights and a room, and comes off your total. The rest is settled on Dec 1.

Payment is handled securely through Stripe.

Questions

The things people ask

Is this a retreat or a program?

Neither. It is a gathering of friends. Nobody is making money on it and there is nothing to graduate from.

Can I bring my kids?

Yes, genuinely. Childcare runs on site during the working blocks and is already covered, so there is nothing extra for you to arrange. Tell us ages when you reserve and we will size the care to the group.

Do you book lodging for me?

No. Everyone books their own place this year, which lets you pick your own budget, your own room, and how much privacy you want. We will coordinate so people end up close together.

Where should I stay?

El Poblado and Laureles are the two easy answers, and both are a short ride from wherever we gather. We will share a shortlist of places people liked. Plans go into the group thread on October 1 and most people book by October 10, so there is a real window to find someone to split a place with.

What is the homework?

A set of reflection prompts, sent December 15. Plan for two to three hours, and do it properly. Past years taught us that anything you can do on your own is better done on your own, before you arrive. That way the days in Medellín go to the conversations, the feedback, and the people, which is the only part you cannot get anywhere else.

Can I invite friends?

It is invite only, though that is less rigid than it sounds. If there is someone you think belongs here, run it by one of us.

What should I bring?

A journal you actually enjoy writing in, comfortable clothes, and a light layer for the evenings. Medellín sits at about 72 degrees year round, so you can leave the coat at home.

How structured is the week?

Loosely. A morning session, an afternoon session, and dinner together, with a lot of room in between to rest or wander.

What happens after I put down a deposit?

You get a receipt and a spot on the list, and we add you to the group thread where lodging and travel get sorted through the October window.