Hi,
I recently found this forum and am so happy I did. the content is really amazing, thanks for making this available to everyone.
I have been practicing meditation on and off for 2 years but only started taking it seriously towards the end of last year. I have read a few books(I generally stop if the content is getting way ahead of my current level as it builds up too many expectations for me though). I have decided to take the rest of the year off to maximize my practice. I have saved up enough that the rest of the year's expenses shouldn't be a problem at all. I looked into doing retreats for the summer and noticed many were fully booked in North America, especially the good ones. I managed to get on a waiting list for a Goenka retreat in July and accepted into one in August. These will be my first retreats.

Until the end of August I need to remain in Canada but after that I am free to travel anywhere and am open to anything. Would appreciate any advice on how to go about choosing the right retreats and making sure I don't under or overdo it. As for where I am at when it comes to my practice. Most of my sessions have been focused on concentration and vipassana. I will probably focus mostly on concentration and metta though until my first retreat as I am not sure I can reach access concentration yet(I think I have sometimes but not consistently).

I have heard of many people that took long periods of time to travel and really delve deep into the practice but it has been very hard to find good information of where/how to best do this. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hey pal
Advice really depends on what your specific goals are. Overarching advice would be to get in the habit of sitting morning and evening, to keep the practice going when you get off the cushion (being v attentive to the physical act of getting up off cushion and mindstate/thoughts etc), to keep up practice throughout the day (mindful eating / speech etc) and pursue the aspects you find personally interesting or relevant to you and be smart about setting up your life around it. As for retreats, well depending on the time and resources etc you have, do as many as you can afford /bear to do, according to what feels right etc.