Make yourself at home and always puff, puff, pass!”
That’s the first—and only—”rule” you’ll read under the FAQ section of the Ganja Goddess Getaway’s pink brochure. Inside you’ll get an intro to the female-only, cannabis-focused retreat that suggests the weekend is a time for women to “renew by connecting to the cannabis plant and each other.” You’ll also learn about the preferred hashtags (#SisterSesh and #GanjaGoddessGetaway), directions to the nearest bathroom (“Port-o-pot-ties”), and a notice that all the “fixins” for s’mores will be available. There’s also a full run-of-show, which includes options such as a discussion entitled “The Goddess and Cannasexuality” and a belly-dancing class.
The language was friendly and the promises of female empowerment worthy, but the material was as intimidating to me as a pamphlet about brain surgery. That’s because my relationship with weed is more “friend of a friend” than Abbi and Ilana. Weed and I have lots of people in common, but we don’t hang out that much, outside the occasional communal bowl.
Still, I’ve always wondered if I was missing out—maybe if I just spent a little more time smoking I’d see all the benefits my friends have been praising: heightened creativity, instant stress relief…OK, well, those are the only two benefits I ever hear. But those are areas I’d like to improve, so off to Coachella Valley I went, one ticket to weed camp in hand.
Also, I’ll admit my curiosity about marijuana stems from the cannabis industry’s recent—and aggressive—marketing push toward millennial women. Much like SoulCycle (biking, basically) and Lululemon (leggings), more and more brands are taking a thing that’s been around forever and repackaging it as an essential, attractive, Instagrammable lifestyle. Publications like Gossamer and Broccoli, with their modern design and cool-girl subjects, feel aspirational, not crunchy. Kush Queen is capitalizing on the Internet’s collective, if confusing, fascination with bath bombs. Foria’s massage oil is packaged like a Glossier disciple.
Four hundred and twenty dollars buys you two nights at a beautiful private estate, a gift bag filled with cannabis products, and all the edibles and nuggets you could possibly want.
Which brings me to the Ganja Goddess Getaway, whose amenities were so attractive, I couldn’t not go. (That and, full disclosure, I was offered a gratis ticket.) The cost varies depending on how many nights you stay, but $420 buys you two nights at a beautiful private estate. That includes a group tent (bring your own bedroll), a gift bag filled with cannabis products, and all the food, snacks, nonalcoholic drinks, and—yes—edibles and nuggets you could possibly want. For $600 you can score “deluxe accommodations,” which means your own private bedroom in the main house.
Credit: glamour.com
As I entered the grounds, I noticed a group of women doing yoga on a sunny lawn. Ahead was a crystal-clear pool with lounge chairs. The buffet was filled with treats like crudité, chilled lemonade, pastries, and hummus. I was asked if, for an extra $40, I wanted a massage. Sign me up!
Any remaining reservations floated away as soon as Miss Bliss—a.k.a. Ganja Goddess Getaway founder and CEO Deidra Bagdasarian—gave her opening remarks. The weekend was to be structured however we wanted, she promised. Hang out by the pool, learn how to make flower crowns, network with other like-minded women. Unlike regimented summer camp, this experience was our choice. Do whatever makes you happy because that’s rooted in love, she explained. “This is your gentle awakening, your time to shift. It’s time to recognize your motivation is either coming from love or fear.”
OK, I thought, I can do this. I can discover myself and my motivations. I walked around the estate, debating the best way to enter this new world of Me as Ganja Goddess. Should I start with one of the joints I found in my gift bag? What about one of the cute and delicious-looking edible cupcakes? Or what if I made friends with the chill women smoking by the pool? Do I go big and head straight to the dab bar, the complicated-looking contraption that works by heating sticky oil made of concentrated doses of cannabis. A staffer named Alexis told me it’s “awesome.”
I didn’t travel across the country to eat a cupcake alone. Dab bar, here I come.
As I exhaled the thick smoke, my body felt lighter. Though my brain still felt clear and alert, there was an edge taken off. Instantly, I got what all the fuss was about. This must be what a Disney princess feels like—light and airy and pleased with the world. Is that a songbird on my shoulder? I bounced over to a booth with cannabis-infused cotton candy, attended by a woman named Vanessa who had, of course, cotton-candy-color hair. “There’s really no fast way to do it,” she warned me as she slowly prepped my treat. “I have to put all the love in it—and glitter, of course.” I was more than happy to wait.
Once the dab-edible combo fully took effect, I fixed myself a large, large plate of snacks before falling asleep with my feet in the cool pool water. When I woke up from the nap, I felt refreshed and amused that munchies are a very real side effect for me. Ready to keep the good times going, I went to a panel titled “Edibles Fit for a Goddess” by cannabis chef Deliciously Dee. There she served samples of edible gummies. They were delicious. And made me hungry again. Why am I always hungry?
Credit: glamour.com
Feeling relatively invincible, I stopped by the dab bar again, now considering myself something of a connoisseur. The hit felt different this time, thicker somehow. Soon after that, my memories of the evening start to blur: I remember sitting slack-jawed in amazement as a woman walked around with a Tibetan singing bowl. I remember picking up a meat kebab for dinner. I remember shivering as day turned to night and all I had on was my bathing suit and a pair of shorts. I remember sleeping by a fire as women around me told stories and sang.
As the night wore on, I was deeply exhausted. Tired of eating. Tired of being high. Tired of being tired. I couldn’t engage with any of the activities because moving felt too hard. I couldn’t bond, or hold a conversation even, with any of the women there because apparently being high makes me even more inward than I already am. I came to the desert to be a breezy free spirit and instead ended up a loner who can’t stop eating hummus. Frustrated, I crawled into bed—I think at 10:00 P.M.—and made a mental note to never, ever go near cannabis again.
The next day though, everything felt bright again. I’d had a dreamless sleep and felt well rested. My breakfast tasted better. By 10:00 A.M., I found myself sitting on a pillow, smiling, as The Craft actress Rachel True taught a session on how to read tarot cards. Now sober, I realized the problem wasn’t the edibles or the getaway. I’m just a newbie who didn’t pace herself correctly. Like a 19-year-old drunk on Burnett’s Blueberry Vodka, I didn’t know my limits or where to draw the line. Simple as that. In this new light, I was able to look around and see the camaraderie of the women there. This was a place for females of all ages, of all body types, and of all backgrounds who came from all over—Canada, California, New York, Tennessee—to learn more about themselves, and others, and, yes, to be 4-20 friendly.
“We want you to feel like you have a community,” Miss Bliss explained during her closing statements. “A place where you have space for you to learn and grow. To organically become the best version of yourself and to use cannabis as that tool along the way.”
A point of view I respect but, honestly, I’m not sure the best version of myself needs weed. I’ll take that community, though—and the snacks.
