After a dark retreat: the first hours back in the light and the journey home

You reach for the switch, or you open the door, and the world is suddenly back: colours, edges, the orchard, the sky. The first hours after a dark retreat are some of the most vivid of the whole week – and they’re also the hours in which you pack, think about trains and switch your phone back on. Lenka and I have watched more than 3,000 people step out of our cabins near Kutná Hora since 2013. Here’s what usually happens next, and how to plan the journey home through Prague without rushing it.

The first minutes: light is loud

People tell us the light feels sharp, almost loud. Even an overcast day looks bright, and colours seem to have been turned up a notch. There isn’t much to do about it except go slowly 🙂 Switch on the light in the cabin first and sit for a while, then open the door. Sunglasses help, especially on a sunny day or when there’s snow.

The other senses come along too. The orchard smells stronger, a car on the road 200 metres away sounds closer than it is, and the first food tastes more intense than you remember. Some people say the first apple or the first cup of coffee after the dark was the best they’ve ever had. It’s not magic – your senses have simply had a week off.

The first hours after a dark retreat: slow is the right speed

Your mind will want to catch up straight away: messages, emails, plans, the train. You can let it wait a little longer. Nothing that happened while you were in the dark will get worse in the next two hours.

A participant from Rotterdam, let’s call him Daan, sat in the garden gazebo for almost an hour before he even touched his bag. When he finally picked it up, he said what many people say on the way out: “It was easier than I imagined.” And then, after a pause: “I just want to remember how quiet my head is right now.”

A few things that help in those first hours:

• Keep your phone off for one more hour. Notifications after a week of silence hit hard – read them sitting down, not while you’re packing.
• Eat something simple. Your taste is wide awake, so bread, fruit or a bowl of soup feels like a feast.
• Write a few lines. Whatever you noticed in the dark fades surprisingly fast once normal life starts talking again.
• Move a little. A slow round of the garden or a walk along the field path wakes up a body that has spent days lying and sitting.
• If you came by car, don’t jump in and drive off straight away. Give your eyes time to get used to light, distance and speed again.

The journey home via Prague

If you came by train, we’ll drive you to the station in Kutná Hora or Čáslav on request – just tell us when you’d like to leave. From Kutná Hora main station to Prague main station it’s about an hour, with direct trains roughly every hour during the day (check the timetable on cd.cz). From Prague main station to Václav Havel Airport it’s about 30–45 minutes, either by the AE airport bus or by metro and the 119 or 59 bus.

Our honest advice: don’t book a flight for the same afternoon. After a week in the dark, a busy station hall with announcements and crowds is a lot to take in. The ceiling of Prague main station is full of lights – a beautiful sight, and a good moment to put your sunglasses back on.

If you can, add a night in Prague or Kutná Hora before you fly or board the long train back to Berlin, Munich or Vienna. You’ll see the city with fresh eyes, and you won’t be rushing through it. The route in the other direction is described step by step in From Prague to Kutná Hora and our cabin door – read it backwards and you have your way home. For the bigger picture of travelling here, see dark retreat near Prague.

A day in Kutná Hora afterwards?

It’s a good idea. Kutná Hora is only 20 minutes from us and much calmer than Prague. Walk along Barborská street, sit for a while in the Church of St Barbara, have a long lunch. Going straight from a week in total darkness to the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel decorated with human bones, is also an option. A bold one 😉 Our Kutná Hora travel guide has the details.

Tips for your first day back home

1. Plan a buffer day. If you can, don’t go back to work the morning after you get home – give yourself a day to land.
2. Go easy on screens. Your eyes and your attention have had a week off; let them come back gradually instead of all at once.
3. Sleep when you’re tired. Your rhythm may feel a bit different for a few nights. Let it settle on its own.
4. Tell people you’re back a day later than you really are. Then you get one quiet day that nobody knows about 🙂
5. Don’t make big decisions on the spot. The clarity you feel after the dark can be very real – it’s still worth letting it rest for a week before you quit your job, move house or buy a boat.

And after that?

Normal life comes back – and that’s fine. A week in the dark doesn’t have to change everything. It’s enough that you gave yourself time, and that you now know you can spend days alone with yourself and come out the other side.

One number, if you’re reading this before your first dark retreat: about 80 % of people who come for three nights tell us afterwards that it was too short. That’s worth knowing when you choose the length – more in One night, three nights or a week? And if you’d like to give someone else this experience, there’s a gift voucher.

See you in the dark – Tom & Lenka

P.S. Once you’re home, switch off the light one evening and sit in the dark for ten minutes. Just to say hello.