March’s release of The Bounty Hunter brings more than just Jennifer Aniston into theatres.  It’s also the first showing of the Eat Pray Love movie trailer.  This is one chick flick that’s expected to be a blockbuster ever since Brad Pitt’s production company snapped up the rights to the best-selling novel by Elizabeth Gilbert as a vehicle for Julia Roberts.
Now a Vegas-based spiritual travel company, Spirit Quest Tours, has created a whole tour around Eat Pray Love, just so you can experience some of those Julia Roberts/Liz Gilbert life changes for yourself.

The tour, aptly entitled Eat, Pray and Love Bali, jets off May 19th from LA or New York for a week in Balinese paradise.

“The whole idea behind the tour was to give women a window of time to experience the same type of powerful changes Liz Gilbert did in her book, which touched millions of women,” explained Halle Eavelyn, the tour leader.

Eat Pray and Love Bali will include:  Italian food in honor of the Italy segment of the book, meditation and yoga for the India portion, and complete exposure to the beauty and creativity of Bali.  Guests will be much more pampered than Gilbert was on her trip, staying in an eco-friendly four-star resort and spa in Ubud. They’ll set out each day for marvelous island stops that will include visits with Ketut Liyer – Gilbert’s Balinese shaman, her friend Wayan the Healer, the Ubud Inn where she stayed, and even a visit with Yudhi, the charming musician she toured the island with.

But the trip is not just an homage to the book’s locales.  Guests will also visit the Ubud Monkey Forest, home to hundreds of friendly monkeys, an authentic Balinese village set in the rice paddies, and some of the most important temples on Bali.   Of course, shopping and spa treatments will also be encouraged, as Bali’s crafts are legendary, and the Eastern styles of massage equally famous.

“We teach our guests to pray as the Balinese Hindus do, to dress appropriately, and then we take people right into the heart of the temples where tourists never get to go,” said Greg Roach, Founder of Spirit Quest Tours and the tour’s co-leader.

“Many times, the Pedanda [local priest] will bless our group themselves, because it’s so rare that visitors take the time to learn the local ways.  Bali is an incredibly spiritual place, and most of the natives are deeply devout, and are fascinated by how Westerners worship and our beliefs.”

Guests are going to be encouraged to set internal goals for themselves, to open up to their highest and best good, and to reach for some of their dreams, even if it’s just for those few days.  The group has taken hundreds of people on trips and some of the changes have been remarkable, like Seattle native Elizabeth (formerly Betty) Mosher.

“Betty was in Bali with us on her first trip and she had this enormous awakening,” says Eavelyn.  “She was sure she’d healed the pain of her ten year divorce but that night at dinner, she stood up and told us all she was taking back her maiden name.  As we applauded, she said,’I’ve never liked the name Betty, and from now on, call me by my name – Elizabeth!’ It was so powerful for her!  I’ll never forget it.”

Spirit Quest Tours can be reached at 877-406-5206 or online at http://www.spiritquesttours.com/bali