Rideshare/Roomshare: 9 Day Practicum in MBSR - Omega/Shrewsbury - July 17- 26, 2016 Public Forum

Oasis Institute OASIS training and certification
#41

Hi Brittany,

Sounds good. Please double check the Amtrak just to make sure I’m not missing something. My email is andrewhuchingsonmd@gmail.com

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#42

I will take a seat. My name is Annie . Just gstting on board now as i was considering goi g to Co for training.

#43

I am interested, Gretchen. Please save a seat for me. Thank you for organizing this.

#44

Hi Gretchen!

Thank you so much for organizing this shuttle. I am in for the OMEGA - CFM trip. I would be seat number 7 if I count well :)

I also join you on your analysis: I am tempted to complain that we have to do so much logistic by ourselves on that 9-day “package” program, but I also want to see it as an opportunity to be creative, mindful and collaborative :) Thanks for initiating that and let me know if I can help further!

Best
David

#45

Hi Andrew,

I’d be happy to travel with you on that 8.15 am train to Rhinecliff. Please tell me where is the start station.

I come from Switzerland on July 8th and will be spending the week before around NYC so I can join you anywhere.

Tks!
David

#46

Hi David the train leaves from Penn station

#47

I do not know if this will be helpful or not? I will share what I experienced last summer when I took the 9 day course. You only need to pay once through UMASS. ( the Omega part will have only Omega folks in it that will not be part of the 9 day intensive- they pay separately than you ). However, CME for certain groups only come from Omega ( not UMASS ) and that fee was separate last year. I remember around $50. Omega seems to understand UMASS system and are helpful to answer some of these questions for credit for the course. You will NOT get CME from UMASS although they say you do. There has always been some contention and challenge with the terminology so if you absolutely need CMEs, you may get the Mindfulness Tools aspect from OMEGA and then nail down UMASS on what you will actually receive from that part of the course. It’s an amazing course and I would take it again, even without any CMEs.

re: Transportation. This is a real challenge and you’re mostly on your own. So, it is important to collaborate and work this out for ease and efficiency ahead of time as much as you can. There are several “styles” to get to Omega and all are challenging and will cost some money.

Logan Airport in Boston is easy, especially if you can find four others to rent a car with. It’s a nice ride to Omega, going through Western Mass and then the country way of the scenic route in NY. I forget now the name of the parkway but it was the best. This allows you transportation from airport to Omega, back to Worchester (Shrews) and back to airport. Four or five folks contributing with one or two drivers, can work nicely and reduce much stress.
UMASS did help provide a “shuttle” from Omega to Shrews but only had one bus in the beginning and our class was large. It was first come first serve and not so pleasant dealing with the anxiety of signing up with everyone in different time zones, not everyone received the message, there was quite a bit of contention over the method. They ended up getting 2 but that was last minute. Returning to Logan was coordinated from a volunteer taking the course who chartered a bus and folks gave her money for their part to ride.

The NY option to LaGuardia works and has shuttles to Omega as well as from some of the airports in the city, however had a lot of kinks last year. Airport construction, road construction made everyone late getting to the mandatory meeting the first evening. Just something to explore if your coming from LaGuardia or JFK.

Flying to Albany worked well for some. Hotels were cheaper to stay overnight the night before to make the flight time convenient and someone rented a car from there, dropped it off near Omega someplace and then got a cab to Omega. Seemed simple for her and she was not ruffled in her process.

I live in VA. All of us ever coming to Omega/Shrews fly to Boston ( flights were cheaper ) and found folks to rent cars with. If you cannot find anyone to defray the costs, there are usually folks who will need a ride from Omega part to Shrews and then to Logan so you can get gas money, etc.

There’s a shuttle from Boston ( holds ?9-12?? ) that will take you from Logan to Shrews but not to Omega.

Some folks rode the train and there is a nice cabbie that Omega will recommend that will take you from the train station to Omega.

Whatever way you explore, you are wise to start now and coordinate with one another for transportation. Car rentals go up in Boston this time of year so obtaining early will be less expensive. It truly can be quite challenging and it’s not something that is automatic for UMASS. You are basically on your own so it’s good to try and figure out what will work for smaller groups and try and coordinate best you can.

I hope this helps! The course is amazing and self care spectacular.
Best, Cawood

#48

I would also be interested in the shuttle. I communicated with Jacqueline and she said it would be about $50 and holds 30 people. But I’m not sure what you have found. I tried to follow the thread of this conversation but I may have missed something. So… in short, count me in for a shuttle spot. Thanks Heidi

#49

Thanks for letting me know, Heidi – I sent Jackie a note to find out about the 30 person shuttle. If that seems better for all of us, we can scrap my plan, but let’s proceed with it for now – I have it reserved with the company but I do not need to put down a deposit and can still cancel it if the other plan suits all of us.
So here’s the full “Shuttle A” crew from Omega to the hotel in Worcester:

  1. Gretchen
  2. Kara
  3. Brittany
  4. Andrew H
  5. Tas
  6. Cheryl
  7. Annie
  8. Patty
  9. David
  10. Heidi
    I will be offline from May 6-13 and will check back in after that. If anyone wants to leave the list above, just let me know.

Folks taking Amtrak from Penn Station to Omega: I think I will take the 10:20am which gets into Rhinecliff at 11:58 – it only takes 10 minutes to Rhinebeck by cab, so I think that will get me to 12:30 registration in plenty of time. If anyone else is taking that train, let me know and we can share a cab.

#50

Brittany and I will be on that same train.

#51

Thanks for letting me know, Andrew – we three can share a cab if that works for you guys. I had been talking to Green Cab about the other trip - I’ll find out if we can reserve and what they charge from the train station to Omega.

#52

Hi Everyone,

Looks like I am landing in Stewart International Airport at 10am -ish on the 17th of July…taxi fare to Omega is apparently about $90 - please let me know if anyone might need a ride to Omega from this airport in Newburgh :)

Tas

#53

Also Andrew - thank you for sharing your travel details earlier ! :) Tas

#54

I have a taxi reserved from the Albany airport area hotel to get to Omega at 1pm. They charge 90.00 I can share and it will cut the cost.

#55

I am also looking for a ride from Omega to Shrewsbury. I would gladly share a shuttle and cut cost or gas for a car.
Thank You!
Christine Friedrich

#56

If there is still availability I would love to get a ride on your transport. Please let me know…If so, do you need the payment ahead of time?

Thank You!
Christine

#57

Hi Andrew,

It now looks like I will be arriving at JFK at 6.25am on the 17th now - what time do you reach JFK? If I could meet you I would really like to join yourself, Brittany and David to Penn Station and onwards…is there room in that cab for me still?

Tas

#58

Hi Gretchen and others.
I too will need a ride from Omega to Shrewsbury and would love to split fare with others. Please let me know the best way to coordinate the effort. This is actually the first time I have sued this site other than an attempt earlier. For anyone interested I have secured a taxi from Albany to Omega and can split with someone. The Taxi fare will around 90.00.
Thanks,
Christine F.

#59

Hi everyone, I’m about to pull the trigger and pay for all the tuition and book my flights. I’m flying in from Dallas to Stewart and then flying back to Dallas from Logan.

I’m looking for a ride share/taxi/shuttle (…ANYTHING) to get from:

  • Omega --> Shrewsbury on 7/22
  • Shrewsbury --> Logan on 7/26

When I called Omega today, the helpful woman I spoke with said there is a shuttle Omega sends to pick people up at Stewart airport that picks people up at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. Both times will give people enough time to arrive by 8pm for the orientation. It’s $45 each way (between Omega and Stewart airport) and we have to register with Omega to get a spot assigned for us.

It looks like the initial shuttle with room for 10 people is already full. And I’m still sifting through all these messages, but I’m looking to share a ride and/or help pay for gas on these two trips above (Omega to Shrewsbury, and then Shrewsbury to Logan).

Thanks!

#60

Hi Christine and Aaron (and everyone) – The first shuttle that I booked (I’m calling it Shuttle A) from Omega to Worcester is full at 10 people, but if one of you wants to start a second shuttle group, I can give you the company that I’ve been talking to and you can start another group. However, Jackie from CFM told me that they typically book a 30 person shuttle but they have not organized it yet.
I haven’t been able to book a room at the hotel in Worcester yet – has anyone else had trouble? I was told the room block was full when I called over the weekend – I told Jackie and she said they will call the hotel and let me know when things are fixed.