Blog · 18 October 2026
How to choose a men's retreat
If you are choosing a men's retreat, start with what the days contain and who is responsible when a man breaks. The photographs are the easy part. The holding is the work.
Questions worth asking
- Is there one guru, or are several men accountable to each other?
- Do you speak with someone before you pay, or do you buy a ticket?
- What does a day look like: meals, rest, sessions? Or a mystery tour?
- What exists after the retreat: a men's circle, training, or silence?
- Is the land part of the work, or a backdrop for the brand?
What we will not dress up
Men's Academy is a home for men, held by Alex Wirthl, Miguel Sevilhano, and Pedro Collares. No gurus. A conversation comes before a deposit. Facilitation is on a sliding scale. You sleep at Monte Velho, above the Atlantic at Carrapateira. English is the working language of the November intensive. Portuguese and German can be translated.
A men's retreat that cannot tell you the shape of a day is selling a feeling, not a container.
The next doors
The Call of the Ancestors is 25–29 November 2026. Check-in is 14:00 on Wednesday. You leave from 12:00 on Sunday. If Portugal is not the honest door, the German intensive is 3–5 September 2027 in Wermelskirchen, held in German. If you cannot travel yet, the men's circle meets every month. Book a call. That call is part of the container. We check fit both ways.
Questions men actually ask
- How do I choose a men's retreat?
- Ask who holds the room, whether there is one face on the poster, what a day actually contains, and what happens after you fly home. If the only promise is transformation, keep looking.
- What is the difference between a men's retreat and a men's intensive?
- People search both. A retreat can mean a holiday with a talking circle. An intensive, as we use the word, is days on the land with a held rhythm: sessions, meals, rest, and no published show. The field decides the inside of each session. The shape of the day does not.
- Which men's retreat does Men's Academy hold next?
- The Call of the Ancestors, 25–29 November 2026, at Monte Velho Retreat Centre, Carrapateira, Costa Vicentina, Portugal. In German, Zurück zu den Wurzeln is 3–5 September 2027 at Brunnenhaus, Wermelskirchen. Book a call before you register.