Edward Pike

Spain Photodump. A much needed dose of family, food, art, culture and city bustle.

🇪🇸

Crete has something to offer at every season, from the quietness of Winter to the fun-filled summer months. Discover here the magic of each of its 4 seasons, and what you can hope to experience in each.

Plan Your Adventure: the 4 Seasons of Crete - Find Your Magic Discover the magic of Crete through its four seasons

If you’re a woman or a gay man feeling lost, disconnected, craving an escape from the grind and a chance to reset, reconnect and rediscover yourself - this is for you.

See the slides for more information on September’s Magic of Connection retreat, including the what, where, why and more ☀️❤️

Find the full details on our site, and get in touch to book a free chat.

See you in Crete!

Is This You?

In the fast-paced swirl of modern life..

- You easily feel disconnected from yourself, others, and the world around you.
- You’ve lost your spark and forgotten what makes you you.
- You find yourself overstimulated and overthinking.
- You’re longing for more meaning, more connection – and some better weather!
- You’re feeling like there’s more to life than your current daily grind.
- You’re craving a new adventure and a chance to reset.

If this is you, then the Magic of Connection in September is for you.

8 days of activities to relax, recharge and engage with the world in more meaningful and connected way, as part of a group of 12 fellow adventurers led by Ed, Rob, and assisted by Eledina.

DM us for more details - and join us in Crete!

 🗓️ 16-23 September
📍Armonia Retreat Venue
🗺️ Douliana, Apokoronas
🏝️Wellness, self-discovery, wellness & adventure
✈️ Chania CHQ

Good Morning ❤️

Summer is in full force here in Crete, and I’ve been busy hosting friends, doing photoshoots with clients, working on our September retreat and preparing some fun Find Your Magic things (a podcast, a free guide to Crete, and some new offerings like trip planning and holiday add-ons).

Sometimes it flows, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it feels slow and lethargic like the summer, sometimes dynamic and expansive like the spring.

I’m learning to keep going step by step, working hard and enjoying much-needed relaxation and fun moments along the way.

I’ve been falling more in love with , our connection and our collaboration.

And I’m excited about what is emerging while doing my best to stay connected, serene and open to the magic within and around me.

What about you? How have you been?

Feels like Summer!

Snapshot from this mornings dog walk on the beach - featuring our believed Helios, Plutonas and special appearance from Bailey ❤️

Life is good right now. We’ve been through a lot of personal change - both of us - and are excited for what’s ahead (we will share more with you soon!).

Living our magic is a real journey, of ups, downs, confusions, frustrations followed by giant leaps and openings.

Are you ready for summer??

“Magic, I saw for the first time, was a choice. And it had to be created” - RuPaul. His latest book has some incredible quotes about purpose, magic, finding our place in the world and tapping into our genius. Have you read it?

Our retreats are rooted in the premise that it becomes far easier to listen to ourselves and find our own answers when we are outside of our “loops” (our repeating thoughts and behaviours) and of the “soup” of cultures that we operate/life/work in our day-to-day.

While I was in my spiritual phase, I judged my love for fitness and bodybuilding as ‘unspiritual’. For 6 years, I focused on ‘spiritual’ activities like yoga, meditation & dance. When I began to re-listen to my body I rediscovered my passion for it and it felt like coming home.

Photography is storytelling, like telling a tale with as much as wisdom, depth and beauty as possible within a single frame. A story that exists on some intangible form yet evokes very real feelings.

Finding your magic is a continuous journey of recognising old ways of thinking and behaving, and letting a deeper love and intelligence within you show you the way.

Travel and adventure is part of my DNA: my maternal ancestors sailed to the Falklands in the 1830s, my grandfather was in the Navy and travelled the world, and my mother travelled solo around South America at age 18.

Some of the challenges about living on Crete: animal abuse, pollution, high tax rates, low salaries and crowded summers!

What’s the one thing about your purpose that you’ve always wondered about but have been too shy / afraid to voice or ask?

Current training: 3-4 weight training sessions a week, 1 extended cardio session, 2 shorter morning spin bike sessions. I also throw in daily walks, dancing at home and a weekly Soul Yoga class at home by friend/mentor Kim Hutchison.

One of my favourite shoots from last year was with Arianna Isabella in London and Crete. We had 2 fun days in Brick Lane then Elafonissi. Here are some of my faves.

Our Find Your Magic retreat business is based on the premise that to find yourself, you must leave the world of your usual thoughts and behaviours for a while and embark on a journey of self-discovery and exploration.

Our vision for Find Your Magic is to create travel and retreat experiences that help people slow down and reconnect with their innate wisdom and power, while enjoying immersive, exhilarating and playful adventures. Find out more:

Home - Find Your Magic Extraordinary adventure retreats to reconnect with the magic and beauty of life through exhilarating excursions, workshops and activities.

When you operate from your mind and emotions, you create chaos while trying to control everything. When you let your body and energy guide you, you tap into a genius that brings order to that chaos.

Crete’s magic lies in it multifaceted nature; it feels more like a continent within an island, like a giant playground. People can have totally different experiences: from wild camping on remote beaches to 5-star all-inclusive, and everything in between.

4 steps to get back into exercising:
1. Create the habit first without overdoing it
2. Slow down, find pleasure and enjoy the feeling of moving
3. Re-learn to listen to your body’s subtle signals
4. Once these are in place, ramp up the challenge bit by bit

Rob is a real magician not just with sound and music, but also in creating immersive, sensorial, beautiful spaces during our retreats. Like an artist he elevates the experience. This is something I love about our : how we bounce of each other and co-create.

While our retreaters can have a copy of the itinerary if they wish to, our last group decided not to. This increased the sense of unknown and , they felt more present and more open, and absolutely loved being guided the entire week without knowing what was coming next.

My first photographer teacher Neo Heart taught me 3 pillars: composition, skill and heart connection. I like to add a 4th pillar: movement, i.e what movement can be felt in the shot, and what it moves in people. Here’s an example: what movement do you feel here?