Flight Plan: A Change of Scenery Can Change Your Life

A photo of Michael King-Hew and his husband David.

Michael and David King-Hew, owners of Kamalame Cay resort in Bahamas. Photo Courtesy Michael King-Hew

Life’s a journey and, for some, a change of location is part of arriving at the right destination. Viia Beaumanis talks to six people who followed their hearts and their passions and transformed their lives

Michael King-Hew, 53, Magazine Publisher, Toronto

Now: Hotelier, Bahamas

How It Happened 

“A global career in marketing and advertising left me financially independent at 35, so in 2000, I moved to Toronto and launched a stable of luxury style magazines. Surrounded by amazing, talented people, collaborating with fashion legends like Valentino, Lagerfeld and Lacroix, life was good but so busy I didn’t have time to question what truly made me happy. Eight years in, I wound up in a nightmare business divorce with my partner, and the negativity of that amplified the importance of moving forward and focusing on the positive.

“I had the distinct sense of impending change; that serendipity was somehow about to alter the course of my life — and that’s when I met David. I dropped the lawsuit, made the decision not to look for another company to invest in and embraced a new life with him.

“In 2010, we moved to the Bahamas where his family owned a private island hotel that was ripe for reimagining. Today, after a lot of hard work, Kamalame Cay (kamalame.com) is the leading private island resort in the Bahamas.”

The Reaction

“Everyone was thrilled. They adored David, and I gained a huge, amazing family when we married in 2015. Also, though we live remotely, with a hotel in paradise, we do tend to get our friends quite a lot, so we don’t miss the people we love.”

The Upshot

“Doing what I love, with the one I love. Realizing that I wanted to focus on the magic in my life and to love with my whole being, David and I are now well on our way to having children. A house full of dogs and kids? This was an impossible concept just a few years ago.”

The Downside

“While it’s enchantingly beautiful — the connection to nature, the lack of commercialization — juxtaposed with my previous life, I do miss the constant stimulus a big city offers. The dining, the gallery openings, the nights on the town. But Miami is an hour away, we’re in Toronto or New York in three hours and the island closes two months a year and we travel the entire time.”

Learning Curve

“Outside of magazines, I’d also owned bars and restaurants in Toronto, and these were built on a sophisticated pool of labour. Here on an isolated island — where we’ve doubled the staff, expanded from 18 rooms to 60 and reconceived everything from cuisine to decor, the challenge is finding and training excellent employees.”

What’s Next

“A master plan for Kamalame that, over the next 10 years, will include an international marina, more private residences and hotel rooms and additional restaurants and bars. In 2018, we added a farm that harvests the island’s produce, which will expand to supply the region. We’re also exploring the launch of a new airline to service Kamalame and the Bahamian islands.”

Sage Advice

“Life is short. My new motto is ‘Love the life you live and live the life you love.’ There’s nothing simpler — or harder — to do, but it’s a truth I try to live by every day.”

Meryanne Loum-Martin, design doyenne in Marrakech. Photo courtesy Meryanne Loum-Martin.

Meryanne Loum-Martin, 60s, Paris Lawyer

Now: Marrakech Design Doyenne

How It Happened

“I was a fourth-generation lawyer on my mother’s side, second on my father’s. All was going well, and I had an interesting career in Paris. But I’d always been passionate about design and architecture, and my hobby took over my professional life. For a while, I was a lawyer and a designer on the side. When my interiors work started being published in magazines, I had to make a choice.”

The Reaction

“My friends in law thought that I was out of my mind. But my husband, an academic and anthropologist, was not a fan of being married to a stressed Parisian lawyer. So, it was very good for him — and his passion for plants turned him into a landscape designer and organic produce farmer in Morocco.”

The Upshot

“The corporate world was very educational about what I was not aspiring to. Now I do what I love, and each day is different. Life in Marrakech is a daily source of discovery, its exotic excitement has never decreased, and I love seeing a city I discovered years ago turn into a haven for creative minds. In Marrakech, I can do a sketch in the morning and have a sample — copper, iron, wood — in 48 hours. And my design skills led me to open a boutique hotel here, Jnane Tamsna, which led to an extraordinary and diverse network of people from around the world whom I’d never have met if I’d stayed a lawyer.”

The Downside
“I don’t think there’s a downside to following your passion, but hurdles are many — such as, it is more difficult for a woman to raise financing. Hurdles never discouraged me though. You just have to be more creative; find another way to the same point.”

Learning Curve

“Though I was such an urban person, I find I really love living in the countryside. I have to cross an oasis to go from my house to my office, but the internet works so well now, I can be in the heart of any place while sitting at my computer in the middle of hundreds of
date palms.”

What’s Next

“I’m creating a cultural platform with IFFAC (Impact Fund for African Creatives) that celebrates the artistic excellence of the African diaspora. Celebrating literature, cinema and fashion with amazing music and food in the most festive way, it will take place in Marrakech over three days every February. And I’ve just signed with Rizzoli for a book on the fascination that Marrakech has long held on foreign creative minds as expressed through gardens and interiors.”

Sage Advice

“Think about being old one day and regretting not having followed your dream. Have a plan B in case it doesn’t work out, but at least you will have tried.”

Zarak Fatah, travel leader in Costa Rica. Photo Courtesy of Sarak Fatah

Zark Fatah, 45, Hospitality Entrepreneur, Toronto

Now: Transformational Travel Leader, Costa Rica

How It Happened

“I owned a dozen businesses in Toronto: salons and spas, bars and restaurants. At a nightclub four nights a week until 3 a.m., I didn’t want to do it anymore but I felt stuck. It was my main source of income. Financially, I was massively in debt; regardless of how much I earned, I’d spend more. Personally, I was still single. I’d never been in love. At 40, I knew it was time for a change, and I started doing the work of self-discovery. Four years later, I moved to Costa Rica to launch The Alive Experience, a transformational travel concept that blends elements of self-development, wellness, connection and adventure.”

The Reaction

My friends and family were aware that I was unhappy, that I was capable of more and living a very superficial life. My parents wanted to see me in a significant relationship and knew my lifestyle wasn’t conducive to creating that. But they had issues with the move to Costa Rica because they knew they wouldn’t see me as much.”

The Upshot

“Ultimate freedom. I work when I want, where I want. I choose a location, book a beautiful space and create the itinerary. But the most rewarding aspect is that I’m changing lives. It’s beautiful to watch people have their own breakthroughs and discover themselves in ways they didn’t know before, to share these profound experiences that I’ve enjoyed myself.”

The Downside

“Starting from scratch in a foreign country was humbling. I also had to learn to communicate in a different way than the promotional messaging I was used to. These experiences aren’t for everybody. I have to express authentically what it is that I’m creating.”

Learning Curve

“Realizing that no matter how successful you are, purpose and fulfillment are incredibly important. I went from owning Maseratis to living in the jungle, driving a quad. My days start at sunrise, and I’m alone most of the time, just me and my dog. Getting rid of the distractions that filled my days in the city, I’ve gained a much deeper understanding of myself. I’m more aware and present than I’ve ever been.”

What’s Next

“I see myself with a life partner and children and sharing The Alive Experience on a global scale. I’ll have facilitators in different locations and an online program where people can access lessons from our coaches. And I definitely want to build an Alive Retreat in Ontario so I can be closer to friends and family.”

Sage Advice

“Most people aren’t willing to follow their passion, to pursue what’s truly fulfilling for them. The identity they’ve created for themselves is too tied up in their job title, the watch they wear, the car they drive. People tell me: ‘Oh, you’re living the life in paradise. I wish I could do that’ and I say: ‘You can absolutely do this — as soon as you’re willing to let go of the things that don’t support the life you want to create.”

Mike Shore, wine importer in the Western Balkans. Photo Courtesy Mike Shore

Mike Shore, 45, Co-Founder, The Spoke Club, Toronto

Now: Wine Importer, Tivat, Montenegro

How It Happened

“When Peter Munk offered me a position at Porto Montenegro, as head of brand development for the amazing project he was launching on the Adriatic, I took it. While I had every intention of coming back after three years, I discovered the opportunity to marry my passion with a business concept. Wine had been a great hobby since university, and The Spoke Club had allowed me to indulge that interest tangentially but, living in Montenegro, I realized I could design a whole life around it. There was no one importing wine in a serious way, yet here we were building a superyacht marina for yachts, hotels and restaurants, all of which would need a steady supply. So, I set up my company, Berba, which is now the largest importer of premium wines in the western Balkans.”

The Reaction

“It was fortunate that I was relatively unencumbered. But I do miss my Toronto friends and being a bigger part of the lives of my niece and nephew.”

The Upshot

“The best thing about Montenegro is that it remains a highly seasonal destination. That means I can spend half my year involved in the sales side of the business, meeting clients and understanding their needs and tastes, and the other half travelling to vineyards, spending time with winemakers and furthering my education. The opportunity to travel to beautiful places, while learning so much at the time, is really incredible.”

The Downside

“Montenegro has no large cities, and I miss everything that a big, dynamic city like Toronto has to offer. Not least, the endless stream of exciting new restaurants to try. Fortunately, my lifestyle allows me to spend a few weeks back home each year.”

Learning Curve

“Educating yourself in a new language and culture makes you more thoughtful and deliberate. You have to pause and consider the effect of everything that you do. It can feed your success.”

What’s Next

“Working with and learning about something I love and which is endlessly fascinating to me, I’ll be shocked if it isn’t something to do with wine. I don’t ever plan to retire. There’s so much to look forward to.”

Sage Advice

“I was deeply moved by something my father said to me before he died after I told him that I was not going to pursue a career in law. ‘You have to find the thing that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning, that makes you excited to start your day.’ I’ve really taken this to heart. I love waking up and starting my day.”

Lisa Bourne, Natruropath in New Zealand. Photo courtesy of Lisa Bourne

Lisa Bourne, 55, Managing Director, London

Now: Naturopath, New Zealand

How It Happened

“I spent 16 years as a managing director for the U.K.’s largest newspaper groups, promoting media platforms to national advertisers. It was challenging, but media in the late ’80s and ’90s was a lot of fun. Big events, long lunches, fabulous, all-expenses-paid trips. ‘Work hard, play hard’ was our mantra and I loved the industry, the buzz, the luxury apartment, all the trappings. Then, the morning after my 41st birthday, I woke up in excruciating pain. I’d developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an incurable autoimmune disorder managed with aggressive drugs. Diagnosed on July 7, 2005 — the day of the London bombings — I walked the silent streets. No cars on the roads. An eerie experience that amplified my own personal bombshell. I recognised I was lucky, I was alive. Soon after, I came across a book: Living and Working in New Zealand, and the seed was planted. I read up on alternative ways to manage RA and realized I didn’t have to follow the conventional path. I decided to go on a healing journey, took a month to pack up and was on my way.”

The Reaction

“Walking away from my career, my friends and family. The conversation with my mother was the hardest. I knew she depended on me to take her travelling, to have fun with.”

The Upshot

“In remission only three months into my ‘journey’, I became passionate about natural healing and trained as a naturopath and medical herbalist. When I graduated, the New Zealand college where I’d studied for four years hired me as its general manager. After that, I opened a wellness centre, providing natural therapists from all disciplines along with classes on nutrition, health and well-being. I loved working with inspired like-minded people and making a difference as a wellness resource.”

The Downside

“The first two years were hardest. Finding ‘my people’ was difficult when I was also finding myself and not made easier by living in a fairly remote area as a mid-40s single woman with no children.”

Learning Curve

“How I live my life, top to bottom. As every cell in our body is new after 10 years, so is every aspect of my new life. A simpler existence, it’s rich in many ways but so different from my old one. I love the ease and freedom, the walks on the beach with my joyful pup, living by the ocean with my incredible husband. A deep, loving relationship that never seemed quite possible when I was a full-on career girl.”

What’s Next

“After 16 years in media, another 10 in natural healing, I’m embarking on my next adventure. It’s time to discover my creative self. I’ve always loved design and have recently done interiors for a few homes and staged others for sale. My new path may lie there. Or possibly in photography, which I love and can combine with my passion for travel.”

Sage Advice

“You only live once. I’ve never regretted one moment of my new life and, given the chance, would never go back.”

Photo Courtesy Trish Whelan, Shamanic Healer in Ibiza. Photo Courtesy Trish Whelan

Trish Whelan, 49, Music Industry Executive, London

Now: Shamanic Healer, Ibiza

How It Happened

“I was in the British music business for over 20 years. Running London’s premier live music venue in my 20s, I was hired by Island Records, where I worked with artists like Soul II Soul and Tricky. Then, I ran a label and recording studio for the acclaimed producer, Nellee Hooper, working with U2, Bjork, the Smashing Pumpkins and No Doubt. My last four years in London, I oversaw the Joe Strummer Foundation, a music charity where I was able to combine my music business experience with my growing interest in healing. By then, I’d also become a reiki master and spiritual healer. I was 43 when I loaded up my car with drums, crystals, sheepskins, all my favourite worldly possessions, and drove from London to Ibiza where I now host retreats centred on Kundalini yoga and shamanic practices.

The Reaction

“Well, some people thought I was crazy. That after all the years of rock ’n’ roll excitement — working with amazing musicians, extended trips living at the Beverly Hills Hotel — I’d be bored on a little island, teaching yoga and healing. But I’d just lost my mother, who was 64, and that inspired me to take action. Her death had such a profound effect on me and my family that we all had the realization that life is short, and we have to LIVE it. So, my family were very supportive. And my truest friends knew I was doing the right thing.”

The Upshot

“The feeling of freedom that comes with having found my purpose. The joy and fulfilment I’ve gained from living a life that’s meaningful, healing and helpful. Also, living on a small island is so very different from living in a city. We help each other out, we say hello to each other, there’s more eye contact. And there’s a special energy that’s palpable on Ibiza. There really is nowhere quite like this magical little island. Each day is a journey, filled with excitement.”

The Downside 

“I miss live music. That’s the only thing!”

Learning Curve

“I came to everything by following the voice inside. Somehow
that always works out. Ibiza was in my heart since the first time I arrived 13 years before I made the move. I always felt a strong magnetic pull.”

What’s Next

“I see myself doing more of the same. I have the honour of holding such a large space of true transformation. I get to share a dream with people, see them heal and change their lives. Together, one by one, I believe this is how we change the world.”

Sage Advice

“The attachments — the handbags, the shoes, the stuff — none of these things are happiness. We’re here for such a tiny moment, then this life is done, finished, over. Listen to your soul, then act. The joy and the abundance on the other side of your fear will overwhelm you. So, just do it.”

A version of this article appeared in the June 2019 issue with the headline, “Flight Plan,” p. 40-47.