You don't need to be an artist.This weekend is built for creative people who want off the screen and back to their own ideas.
The weekend
What you'll actually do with other creative humans
None of it happens on a screen. Some sessions are guided, some are yours to wander into. Nothing is mandatory except leaving your phone in its box.
Friday
Afternoon Drawing
Grab a pencil and a pad and spend the afternoon drawing whatever is in front of you. Every level welcome. We close the weekend with a relaxed presentation where everyone shows what they made. No critique, just sharing.
Friday Afternoon
Lake Loop Run
A 1 mile group circle run around the lake. Easy pace, everyone stays together, walkers welcome.
Friday & Saturday Night
Game Night
We'll bring the games.
Saturday Morning
Cut-Paper Collage workshop from Art Club RVA
Layered paper, glue, and no screens. One of a few ways in if working with your hands turns out to be your thing.
Saturday Morning
Vintage Shopping
A group run to Bedford antique shops. Hunt old paper, frames, and odd treasures to draw, cut up, or keep.
Saturday Afternoon
Kayaking
Out on Abbott Lake, right below Sharp Top. Beginner friendly, boats and life vests provided.
Friday & saturday Night
Fireside Networking
Evenings by the fire with other makers and founders. Real conversation, no name-tag speed rounds.
Sunday Morning
Meditation
Short guided sits to quiet the part of your brain still reaching for a phone that isn't there.
Sunday Morning
Shuttle to Sharp Top
A van ride to the summit of Sharp Top Mountain. Skip the climb, keep the view. Bring a jacket, it's cooler up top.
Friday & Saturday & Sunday
Relaxation
Deliberate nothing. Hammocks, porch chairs, a book, the view. Rest is on the schedule, not squeezed around it.
Write it off
For working creatives
Yes, it is likely tax-deductible.
Ok Me Ok You is a professional development workshop. This is not a vacation. You spend the weekend building real creative skills next to other working professionals, and for the freelancers and self-employed folks who make up most of the room, that kind of professional development is commonly a deductible business expense.
The workshop fee is the clear one. It is professional development, plain and simple.
We'll provide a documented weekend professional workshop itinerary, hour by hour
Travel and lodging can qualify too, depending on your situation, since the reason you are here is your work.
An itemized receipt lands in your inbox after the retreat, so your bookkeeping is painless.
Not a freelancer? Still welcome. Every creative is, whatever your setup looks like.
We are not your accountant and this is not tax advice. What you can actually deduct depends on your work, your income, and where you file, so run it by a qualified tax professional before you count on anything.
Peaks of Otter
See where you'll be.
Real photos of the resort, the lake, and the mountains you wake up to. Not a stock-photo mountain in sight.
Abbott Lake and Sharp Top, seen from the lodgeThe lodge, right on the waterMorning on the lakeWhere we run the collage workshopThe Blue Ridge Parkway in AprilEvenings by the fireYour room for the weekend
The place
Peaks of Otter, Bedford, Virginia.
We are on Abbott Lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains, right on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sharp Top and Flat Top rise straight up out of the water. Mid April is peak foliage, so the whole ridge is on fire, in the good way.
The lodge sits on the lake, so the workshop room, the water, and your bed are all a short walk apart.
Blue Ridge Parkway · Bedford, VA
Lodging on Abbott Lake
Town is one street away, map provided
Nearest airport: Roanoke (ROA), about an hour
The offline pledge
Your phone gets its own box.
We don't take your phone. When you check in Friday at four, you get a phone box that is yours to keep. Put your phone inside, tape it shut, and leave it in your room until checkout Sunday at eleven.
That is 43 hours off the grid. On the last morning we open the boxes together, and most people are surprised how little they reached for it.
FRI 4:00 PM box it at check-inSUN 11:00 AM open at check-out= 43 HOURS offline
You won't need it anyway. The town is one street, straight down the road, and we hand you a paper map when you arrive. No GPS required. It is an honor system, not a lockup, so if you truly need it, it is right there in your room.
How it works
Lets talk numbers.
Three steps and you're in. You book your own room at the resort, we handle every activity on the schedule, and your taxes stay easy. Here is the whole thing.
01 Book you room
Reserve your own room right at Peaks of Otter on Abbott Lake. Use our group code at checkout for 15% off the nightly rate. You book this part directly with the resort.
02 Tickets are not on sale yet but click here to sign up and we'll email you when tickets go on sale
This is your spot in the workshop. Every session and activity, the collage workshops, kayaking, yoga, the vintage run, game night, all of it, is included in one price. Nothing to add on later.
The minute you register, we email you an itemized receipt built for your tax records. Hand it to your accountant and the write-off takes care of itself.
Sent automatically
Reserve your spot
43 hours offline. Listen to your heart.
Spots are limited so the sessions stay small and the fire stays intimate.
--Days
--Hrs
--Min
$300per person · April 16 to 18, 2026
Afternoon drawing sessions
The closing presentation
A cut-paper collage workshop
All art materials
Kayaking on Abbott Lake, gear included
Morning yoga and guided meditation
Group vintage-shopping trip
Evening fires and a phone box that is yours to keep
Meals, you'll want to do your own thing (town's a block away)
Two nights offline. One real reset for your creative brain, your hands, and your business.
This isn't just a nice trip. It's built to knock the rust off, get you making things again, and send you home with work and a few people who make things too.
You'll leave Peaks of Otter with:
Where did the love go?
You make things on a screen all day, and somewhere in there it quietly turned into a job. Two days with no undo button reminds you why you started. Nothing between you and the work, nothing buffering. Most people are surprised how fast the itch comes back once the screen is gone.
People who actually get it
Making things for a living is lonely work. You spend your days alone with a screen, and a group chat is not the same as talking to someone who understands the specific weirdness of the job. This is the opposite of that. A small group, phones off, most of a weekend around a fire and a shared table. No name tags, no elevator pitches, nobody selling you anything. Day one is a little awkward. By day two you have inside jokes. You leave with a handful of people who make things too, the kind who text back, trade work, and still know your name a year from now. For a lot of people this is the part they did not see coming, and the part they can't stop talking about after.
Don't scroll past another weekend
You don't leave with a notebook full of good intentions. You leave with actual pieces you cut and built by hand, ready to frame, gift, or hang on the wall the day you get home. Proof you spent the weekend making something instead of scrolling past it.
A genuine rest
Most trips send you home more tired than when you left, because the phone tagged along. Not this one. Kayaking, yoga, a slow loop around the lake, hammocks, and real stretches of nothing on the schedule. Forty-three hours off the grid does something a long weekend on your phone never will. You come back full, not fried.
An easy write-off
For most of the freelancers and self-employed folks who come, this lands as professional development, which for a lot of them makes it a deductible business expense. We send an itemized receipt so the paperwork is painless. Check with your accountant on what applies to you.
Flexible payment
Pay how it works for you.
Two ways to cover your ticket. Pay it all at once, or split it into equal monthly payments. Same spot either way.
Pay in full
$300one payment
Pay once, you're done. Simplest option, nothing left to think about.
Prices shown are placeholders. Set your own total and plan terms, and make sure the monthly amounts add up to your full price.
Good questions
FAQ
Do I really have to give up my phone?
You don't give it up at all. You get a phone box to keep, tape your phone inside, and leave it in your room. We open all the boxes together on the last morning. It is an honor system, and honestly you won't miss it. The town is one street away and we hand you a paper map.
Do I need any art experience?
None at all. The drawing and collage sessions are guided and built for beginners, and everything else, from yoga to kayaking, is all-level and optional. This is for creative people getting away from screens, not a class you can fall behind in.
What should I bring?
Comfortable clothes and layers for cool mountain evenings, and anything you would like to draw with or make from: a sketchbook, old photos, magazines, maps. We provide pencils, paper, collage supplies, and the rest.
Are meals included?
No, and that is on purpose. Everybody eats differently, and the town is a block down the street with its own spots, so you get to do your own thing. Your room is booked directly with the lodge.
How do I get there?
Peaks of Otter Resort sits on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Bedford, Virginia. The nearest airport is Roanoke (ROA), roughly an hour away by car. We can help coordinate carpools once you register.
Is it actually tax-deductible?
Often, as professional development, but it depends on your work and your tax situation. We send an itemized receipt. Check with your accountant on what applies to you.
What is the cancellation policy?
TODO: add your policy, for example a non-refundable deposit and a full refund window a set number of days before the retreat.
Your phone stays with you in a taped box in your room and we open the boxes together on the last morning. Meals are on your own. Lodging and travel are arranged separately, see the FAQ. Tax deductibility depends on your individual circumstances and is not guaranteed; please consult a qualified tax professional. Retreat dates, pricing, and inclusions are subject to change until confirmed at registration.
