Adventure to Awaken began as a newsletter about traveling the world to heal. It has grown into something larger — a platform for transformation, embodied practice, and the journey back to aliveness. If you're here for the newsletter, welcome! If you found me through my meditation & somatic work, or my clarity & presence work with leaders and organizations, that lives here. Either way, the through-line is the same: helping people feel more alive.
I’m Clara Ritger and I’m a storyteller. I write and I make films. Mostly I’ve told stories about other people. Now, I’m telling stories about myself.

On paper, I had the kind of life you only see in movies: growing up in Surf City, California; attending a prestigious university with a legendary football program on full scholarship; landing a coveted job as a political reporter on Capitol Hill; successfully running my own film company in New York City.
But behind the scenes I was struggling with health issues rooted in a lifetime of unresolved trauma.
So I traded one enviable life for another: traveling the world in search of healing, in search of a life well lived.
This is what I've learned.
Welcome to Adventure to Awaken. Start here with my introduction to the newsletter and what it is about:

Adventure to Awaken Community Ethos
- This is a group of people who just want to feel a little more alive.
- This is a group of people who feel most alive when they are aware of their aliveness.
- This is a group of people who understand that if the world is to be more compassionate, we must begin by cultivating compassion for ourselves.
- This is a group of people who aren’t content with the way things are or are supposed to be, and are seeking more.
- This is a group of people who want a place to remember what really matters in life. Not that deadline. Not what that other person said about you. Not the fact that you have no idea what you are doing with your life and whether you matter.
From one over-thinker to another, it doesn’t matter.
What matters – all that matters – is that you are alive.
Welcome to the adventure.
Adventure to Awaken is a free, fortnightly newsletter with stories about traveling your inner landscape and coming home to yourself. Join me on my (mis)adventures around the world, and the lessons I’ve learned about life (and myself) along the way. Get a dose of gratitude and peace to your inbox twice-a-month by signing up for our Dreamer tier. Dreaming is always free. Subscribe here.
[Note: Adventure to Awaken used to be a weekly newsletter. Check out the vast archives here!]
Once a month, half the newsletter is paywalled, and paid subscribers get access to the whole thing, plus a monthly community call where we discuss the topics and practices shared in the newsletter. If that sounds delightful to you, upgrade your membership to the Seeker tier.
100 Dollars A Day is a second expansive archive of writing containing actionable, money-saving tips that will teach you how to travel the world for – you guessed it – 100 dollars a day. For a one-time payment of $100, you can learn how to save thousands on travel. Get access by signing up for the Traveler tier.
Paid subscriptions make this site possible, and allow Adventure to Awaken to continue to exist. Thank you for your support! ❤️
