SOMETHING HAPPENED LAST YEAR THAT I DID NOT EXPECT

When I planned the first Mancation Mountain, I scheduled about 90 minutes each day for relationship conversations and our Connection Circles.

Honestly, I thought 90 minutes might already be pushing it. Guys would want to hang out, drink whiskey, watch football, eat steaks, play poker and have fun. And we did all of that.

Then those 90-minute conversations went beyond four hours. Every day.

The part of the retreat I thought the men would merely tolerate became the part they seemed to crave most.

They talked about relationships, sex, jealousy, marriage, desire, fear, mistakes, insecurity, what was going right and what was going terribly. Other men listened—not to fix them, judge them or tell them what a man is supposed to want. They understood.

That experience completely changed what I believe Mancation Mountain is.

MOST MEN HAVE GUYS THEY CAN DO THINGS WITH. FAR FEWER HAVE GUYS THEY CAN ACTUALLY TALK TO.

We have golf buddies. Gym buddies. Guys we watch football with. Guys we drink with. Guys we will spend three hours arguing with about a quarterback.

Far fewer men have friendships where they can say:

“My relationship is struggling and I do not know what to do.”
“I am jealous and I hate that I am jealous.”
“Something happened sexually and I do not know how to feel about it.”
“I fucked this up.”
“I am scared.”
“Is this happening to anybody else?”

For many men, a spouse or partner eventually becomes the only person with whom they process any of this. That is a tremendous amount of weight for one relationship to carry.

Mancation Mountain offers something different: a group of men you do not have to bullshit.

AND THESE ARE SEX-POSITIVE MEN.

That distinction matters. Relationships, sexuality, desire and lifestyle can be complicated. Here, you do not have to spend the first hour explaining why you are here or worrying that the men listening will judge you.

You can just talk. You can hear how other men have handled the same things you are wrestling with. Sometimes another man will see something in your situation that you simply could not see from inside it.

THIS IS STILL A MANCATION

Do not misunderstand me. We are not giving up the fun. Quite the opposite.

• Steaks and ridiculous amounts of food
• Whiskey and drinks
• Football, poker, pool and games
• Pool and hot tubs
• Movie night in the cabin theater
• Gameday burgers, brisket and beans
• Late-night conversations around the fireplace
• Plenty of time to do absolutely nothing

Mancation Mountain is not four days of sitting in chairs having serious conversations. It is four days of men actually becoming friends.

Sometimes that happens during a Connection Circle. Sometimes it happens at 1:00 a.m. with a drink beside the fireplace. Sometimes it starts with a joke and ends two hours later with a conversation nobody expected to have.

The fun is not separate from the connection. It is part of how the connection happens.

FOUR DAYS. THREE NIGHTS. ONE HELL OF A MANCATION.

November 8–11, 2026 • Smoky Mountains

This year takes place in a spectacular new luxury property with 16 bedrooms, private king suites, a king-bunk room, theater, pool, hot tubs and plenty of places to gather.

INCLUDED

• Luxury accommodations
• Expanded Mancation Mountain Connection Circles
• Steak dinners and gameday grilling
• Football, poker, pool and games
• Hot tubs and pool time
• Movie night with popcorn and snacks
• Late-night fireplace conversations
• And, if last year taught us anything, probably a few conversations none of us planned to have

Alcohol and transportation are not included.