Going solo: what to expect on a boxing retreat when you travel alone
5 April 2026 by Luke Howard
Most guests who come to the Bali retreat arrive alone. Some have never travelled internationally by themselves. Some do it often. Either way, the question we get most is some version of the same thing: “What’s it actually like when you arrive on your own?”
This is the honest walk-through.
Sunday: you don’t have to figure anything out
Your flight lands at DPS. You get off the plane. Someone from the team is waiting for you at arrivals. That is the first logistical thing off your plate — airport transfers are part of the retreat, both directions.
You check in at the hotel, which is a private room in the partner property we use. You have the afternoon to unpack, shower, walk to a coffee, and generally reset from the flight.
At 7pm you meet the group for the first time at the welcome dinner. Everyone is in the same boat — most people know nobody else. By the end of the first meal, you know 15 names, where everyone is from, and which ones of you have trained longest. The group is small enough that you actually end up in conversations, not buried at the end of a long table.
Monday morning: you already feel like you belong
The first 7am session is technical drills. You are not training with strangers — you are training with people you had dinner with the night before. That small change matters. It is the thing that makes the retreat feel different from dropping into a gym while on holiday.
Breakfast is at 8am, everyone together. You will notice by Monday evening that there is a table plan forming on its own — people gravitate to each other, compare notes on the morning, and start making plans for the Wednesday spa day.
The schedule gives you reasons to be with people
One of the hardest things about solo travel is the unstructured middle of the day. At a retreat, the middle of the day has structure:
- Shared breakfast after the 7am session
- Free time during the day (swim, walk, cafes, nap)
- Afternoon session or activity
- Team dinner in the evening at a different restaurant
The activities are built in on top of the training: mid-week AMO Spa massage and recovery, an ATV day in Ubud on Friday, the farewell at Finn’s Beach Club on Saturday. You don’t have to plan any of it — you just show up.
This matters when you are solo. You don’t have to decide every meal, every transfer, every outing. You just choose what to opt in to.
Small groups make real friendships
The group is capped at 16. That’s by design. At 16 guests, you can know everyone by name within two days. By Wednesday you know who is training the hardest, who is funniest at dinner, who is always five minutes late, who you want to sit next to on the ATV. By Saturday at Finn’s Beach Club you are swapping Instagrams with people who were strangers the week before.
Past retreats have had guests from Australia, the UK, USA, South Africa, Scotland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and more. Cumulatively the community crosses 20+ countries. The mix is deliberately varied — no two retreats have the same group shape.
What people are actually like
A fair description of who tends to be on the retreat:
- Ages 25 to 45, slightly more men than women, mix of all
- Train boxing two or three times a week at a local gym
- Don’t fight, don’t want to
- Come from fitness, creative, professional, and entrepreneurial backgrounds
- Usually solo, occasionally in pairs, never in big pre-formed groups
- Across all levels, but everyone has at least some training time on their hands
Nobody is cliquey because nobody arrives with an existing clique. That is the point.
If you’ve never done a solo training trip
A handful of practical things that help:
- Turn up your phone roaming or get a local e-SIM before landing. Makes the first day easier.
- Bring one outfit for the Finn’s farewell that is not training gear. Everyone dresses up a bit for the Saturday party.
- Say hello to people the first morning. Everyone is in the same position as you. Three words is enough.
- Use the Wednesday AMO Spa day. Solo travel can be tiring — the mid-week recovery resets you for the back half of the week.
The end of the week
By Saturday afternoon at Finn’s, you have trained twice a day most days, eaten 14 meals with the group, done an ATV adventure in Ubud, had a spa day, and met 15 people you did not know the week before. Most guests leave with a WhatsApp group that keeps going. Many meet up on other trips later or come back to a future retreat together.
The answer to “what is it like if I come solo” is simple: you come solo, you leave with friends.
If you are thinking about it, start with the free boxing training plan. Dates and inclusions are on the retreats page.