Fresh Air Retreat in Palm Springs (Food Blogger Retreat)

The Fresh Air Retreat is an intimate retreat of food bloggers who gather for a few days to network, learn from each other, and of course, eat delicious food. I had the pleasure of attending it recently at Palm Springs in October 2024 and had the most amazing time! Here’s a quick recap of my time there.

The Fresh Air Retreat is the first retreat I’ve been to with fellow food bloggers and it was such a great experience! While I’ve been blogging for over 10 years, I haven’t had many chances to connect with other people in my field in person, and it was so refreshing to talk, chat, and laugh together in the same space. I walked away feeling so much more energized, motivated, and inspired to improve the way I blog and work, and I would 100% do it all over again.

Organizers

• Liz at The Lemon Bowl
• Lauren at The Curious Plate

Both of these ladies are talented food bloggers themselves, and I was truly amazed at how well they put together this 3-day event. As an event planner in my past life, I know how much work it goes into planning even a small gathering, and they did such an incredible job making sure that we were all comfortable, well fed and dined, and in the best atmosphere.

Attendees

Getting to connect with other food bloggers was pretty much my favorite part. I loved that the retreat invited only a small group to make it intimate, so we had the opportunity to really get to know each other and become true friends. I still talk to all of these ladies on a regular basis, and they are all so amazing at what they do. We all inspire each other and learn from each other continuously. Hope you check them out!

• Ashley at The Fit Peach
• Christina at Dessert for Two
• Jordan at JZ Eats
• Lexi at Lexi’s Clean Kitchen
• Molly at What Molly Made
• Sarah at Live Eat Learn
• Shelley at Cookies & Cups

Chef Trimell

Some of the best food we had was by Chef Trimell, so I can’t write this post without mentioning him. He was our in-house private chef, and every meal and spread we enjoyed was fantastic – I haven’t eaten that well in a very long time. You could tell he put an insane amount of thought, care, and effort into each dish, and overall, it was an incredible dining experience. Honestly, the food one of the biggest highlights of the retreat.

Activities & Sessions

What I loved about the retreat was that it was such a good balance of both education and fun. We had plenty of opportunity to connect and talk to each about work, answer each other’s business questions, and take part in problem solving sessions. We also were given time to swim in the beautiful pool, enjoy cocktails, go on a walk, and even went out to amazing restaurants in Palm Springs.

We also were able to connect with the sponsors who showcased their products in such a fun and engaging way. As a blogger, it’s always nice to put faces to brands and see the passion in their work, which makes us get excited to work with them if the opportunity should arise in the future.

Sponsors of Fresh Air Retreat

Many of the sessions were presented by the sponsors, and they were all very engaging and educational. I loved connecting with the brands in such a fun way, in which we were able to try the products and learn more about them.

Happy Egg

I’ve worked with Happy Egg before, so it was so great to meet some of the people behind the brand. They hosted an amazing breakfast showing their beautiful eggs, and I loved the passion they have for providing their hens with the best environment to create high quality eggs. The eggs we tried were truly so delicious and flavorful, and the breakfast spread (prepared by celebrity chef Tiana Gee!) was incredible.

Grocers List

This was the first time I heard of Grocers List and I was the most excited to learn about them. They provide a tool for food bloggers to drive traffic to their sites on Instagram by providing a clickable link to their audience in their DMs for the recipe that they want to try. It was so much better and user-friendly than the competitor brand I was using, that I switched to their service as soon as I got home from the retreat! If you are a food blogger, I highly recommend you check them out!

Onions 52

Onions 52 was fascinating because not only do they grow a variety of onions, they also grow Tearless Smileys – which are sweeter and milder, AND doesn’t cause you to tear up while slicing! It took them decades to create this type of onion, and it truly didn’t bother my eyes at all – and I’m pretty sensitive.

We were presented with an amazing spread of Mexican food using their onions, and it was one of my favorite meals.

Albertsons Signature Selct

You’ve probably heard of Albertsons – they are a grocery chain with an exclusive brand called Signature Select, which includes 8,000 high-quality, convenient products at a value. We enjoyed an afternoon snack time with these delicious products, as well as breakfast the next day.

California Date Commission

California Date Commission is a nonprofit organization that supports the date industry through marketing, research, and government affairs. It was fascinating to learn about how dates are grown and harvested, and the amount of work the whole process takes.

We had a very fun tasting session of various types of dates, and I was blown away about how different they each taste depending on when they are harvested. We also learned that Medjool dates are a healthy snack: a single Medjool date has 3x the amount of potassium as 1 banana AND it has a low glycemic index making it diabetic-friendly.

California Walnuts

The California Walnut Board and Commission represent walnut growers and handlers in matters of research, regulation, and marketing of all walnuts grown in California – I didn’t realize this but that’s 99% of all walnuts grown in the US!

We had a happy hour mocktails and spiced walnuts session, and we enjoyed a gorgeous spread of charcuterie with roasted spiced walnuts and a delicious, refreshing drink.

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One major takeaway from this whole experience was how important it is to put myself out there and connect with other content creators, not just on the internet. This job can be lonely many times, and as an introvert, I certainly embrace being isolated for the most part. However, I realized how much more creative and inspired I feel when I talk to and connect with other people who are going through a similar journey as me. It helped that everyone was so friendly, helpful, and so knowledgable!

Overall, the whole Fresh Air Retreat was an incredible experience full of learning, connecting, and amazing food. I definitely want to go back again in the future. If you are a food blogger as well, I highly recommend attending a future retreat – the city changes every time so one may be coming up near you!

All of the incredible photos from the retreat were taken by Amanda Kamppinen.