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At home in Morocco

October 3, 2022

Life in Marrakech always feels fast and slow, new and old — all at the same time. One moment you’re overwhelmed by the city’s hustle and bustle — the loud motorcycles racing through the narrow alleys of the ancient medina, dodging pedestrians — and the next moment you feel like you’ve traveled back in time when you happen to encounter a peaceful hidden alley with hardly any passersby. Every ancient archway feels like a path into the past.

Time becomes a blur in this part of the world. I wake up to the first call to prayer and go to sleep after the last of the day. And the time in between vanishes like the smoke that rises from the many cooking fires in Jemaa el-Fna square.

Life for us nomads is different everywhere we go. It changes with the environment. It changes with the time zones. And it changes with every culture we encounter and try to adopt as our own. Nothing ever gets stale. The life of a nomad is filled with novelty, serendipity and adventure. These are the built-in gifts and joys of living a nomadic life and exploring this magnificent world.

That's the good. What's the bad and the ugly? Not much turns out to be bad when you're a seasoned traveler and are of the mind that every experience is an opportunity for new adventure. What may seem like a negative thing often comes with a silver lining when you intentionally look for it. As far as ugly, the world is complicated and that’s reflected everywhere. No place on this planet is immune to the ugliness created by humans. We accept the world as it is.

The biggest downside of our lifestyle is how much we miss our loved ones. Doing FaceTime or Zoom with them helps but I still want that human touch with them. I still want those embraces and kisses -- especially our granddaughter's. Frankly, the hardest thing for me is that no matter the distance, I still feel the pain and suffering of those I love as my own pain and suffering. And though I can always catch a flight on a moment’s notice, I can’t always be with them when they need me and when I need to be with them.

In some ways, the sadness I carry with me keeps me grounded. Because of it I can genuinely and profoundly feel the joy bestowed upon me in all the different corners of the world I love so much. I've learned not to take anything or anyone for granted. I'm mindful of the fact that we only have one life to live so I focus on what matters most to me. I try to live life with intention, grace and mindfulness because anything else would waste the most valuable thing we all have: our precious time.

As full-time digital nomads, Mike and I are citizens of the world. But it's curious to me how those who have homes in a permanent house often tell us that they cannot comprehend how we can live without our own bed, our own kitchen or a daily routine with the same people in the same place. It's unfathomable and inconceivable to them. My mind instantly wonders how can they? But I know that's just me. It's the way I was probably born — born to explore.

My response: My lifestyle is not for everyone. But it's perfect for me. There are some trade-offs. But living in the same place permanently, sleeping on the same bed, cooking in the same kitchen, having the same daily routine and being attached to all the material possessions that come with a house are no longer tradeoffs for me. They used to be for a time many years ago.

Someone recently described us as "homeless" in the context of trying to describe the fact that we don't have a permanent residence address or live in a permanent house.

Obviously, we're not vagrants. And we actually own property. We don’t own or live in a permanent house by choice. We make a living doing what we love. But it's true we don't have a house that's a permanent residence other than sometimes we use our son's and daughter-in-law's address to ship things to. But we're not homeless — far from it. We rent our homes — sometimes for as little as for one week, most often for a month or two.

We are nomads. We move around a lot. Wherever we happen to be is our home. Right now, our home is Marrakech.

We're staying in a beautiful ancient Riad that's owned by a friend of ours. And it's magical to live here. Even after 16 years of this lifestyle, we fall in love with it all over again every time.

The more of the world we see, the more we realize how little of the world we’ve seen. The more we learn about other cultures, the more we realize how little we know. I reckon we'll spend the rest of our lives wandering around the world with the humbling understanding that we will never live long enough to see it all or learn enough about it. Some say ignorance is bliss. I find bliss in being confronted with my own ignorance. Because it's an invitation to learning something new.

Mike and I are of one mind when it comes to travel — and our gastronomadic lifestyle. We travel for the thrill of living everywhere and eating everything. We're not homebodies, I'm not even sure I can understand what that means but I do feel a certain aversion to the word.

I love roaming around and wandering aimlessly in every place we live -- that's my nirvana. It brings me immense joy, which produces enormous gratitude and happiness within my heart and soul. So much so that it feels like my heart beats a thousand times a minute from the exultation in every fiber of my being. But I could never feel this way if I were doing this alone. My secret ingredient is that I get to do it with the love of my life. Mike is the reason this is possible for me. I'm forever grateful to the universe for my good fortune.

Mike and I are always ready to go anywhere on a moment's notice. Packing is not a big deal. Changing plans and being flexible is part of the thrill. A canceled flight. A sudden invitation. It's all just another opportunity for serendipity. Extending our travels for an event is something we're always ready to do. Acting on a whim is all part of the joy of discovery.

For us, the world is too big to stay in one place. Home is wherever we happen to be. -Amira

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Tags Morocco, Fez, Marrakech, Nomadic

The Guelaguetza: Oaxaca’s epic indigenous cultural event of food, dance, music and spectacle

August 1, 2022

The Guelaguetza: Oaxaca’s epic indigenous cultural event of food, dance, music and spectacle

Each summer, the city of Oaxaca dresses up in retina-searing colors and transforms itself into the most important indigenous cultural event anywhere in the Americas.

We've had the privilege of attending this year's Guelaguetza Festival for the first time, thanks to the help and courtesy of Oaxacan friends. And we have loved every minute of it.

Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza is a big deal because Oaxacan culture is inseparable from indigenous culture. The event showcases the roots and traditions of the spectacularly diverse indigenous cultures in Oaxaca through dances in group-specific costumes, big parades, gatherings, musical events, artisanal crafts and indigenous-forward (pre-Hispanic) food festivals. 

Although loosely based on pre-Spanish traditions, the modern Guelaguetza began in 1932 on the 400th anniversary of the founding of the City of Oaxaca by the Spanish empire.

Since 1969, the Guelaguetza has been celebrated on the two Mondays immediately following July 16 (except when that first Monday lands on the birthday of indigenous Oaxacan former president Benito Juárez, which is July 18.) But the informal, citywide festivities begin days before the official start and continue throughout the two weeks, ending today. It’s an endless, crowded, festive, happy party.

The word Guelaguetza is Zapotec for “reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services” or “offering.” (The Guelaguetza also integrates ceremonies around Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or “Virgen del Carmen.”)

Because this cultural exchange is so beautiful and delicious, the Guelaguetza has evolved into a performance spectacle and feast for everyone's eyes, which is a source of ongoing controversy in Oaxaca. Some indigenous leaders say the celebration is being commercialized and performed for outsiders, mainly visitors for elsewhere in Mexico. And that’s obviously true for some of the centrally planned activities in the City of Oaxaca, but not at all true in the many events that take place in the surrounding villages. Many of the different villages or municipalities hold their own local Guelaguetza celebrations.

The Guelaguetza is a fraught cultural event for Mexico. Commercial aspects infringe on the inherent traditions and meaning behind the rituals and the objective of cultural exchange. Despite the differences and controversies, the Guelaguetza has managed to amalgamate cultural and identity expressions in its idea of unity and coexistence between ethnic groups and the general population. As each ethnic group celebrates their specific identity as well as their ethnic differences, despite the inequities within the society at large, Guelaguetza fosters conviviality and convergence in a genuine community celebration that exalts coexistence between diversified lifestyles. On the whole, the event is all about love for indigenous Oaxaca, both by the locals and for visitors as well.


The Guelaguetza is significant for indigenous Oaxacans, as its diversity of language and culture make it important and meaningful to the survival of their cultures. Everyone comes together for this once-a-year super fiesta to share and celebrate the diverse world of Oaxacan indigenous communities where they can bond and connect with each other.

The Guelaguetza Festival brings together delegations that represent the eight regions of Oaxaca (Cañada, Costa, Istmo, Mixteca, Papaloapan, Sierra Sur, Sierra Norte y Valles Centrales.) Only 21 delegations represented the state's 590 municipalities this year. The participants are selected through a lottery system from the hundreds of groups and municipalities who are members of the different ethnic groups from different regions and who speak mutually unintelligible languages.

The language landscape reveals the cultural diversity in Oaxaca. More than one-third of all people in the State of Oaxaca speaks an indigenous language, and many do not speak any other language, including Spanish.

The largest group alone, called the Zapotecs, speaks more than 62 distinct and often mutually unintelligible languages. The Mixtecs speak dozens. There are 14 other distinct ethnicities in Oaxaca (in order of population: Mazateco, Chinanteco, Mixe, Chatino, Trique, Huave, Cuicateco, Zoque, Amuzgo, Oaxacan, Tacuate, Chochotec, Ixcateco and the Popoloco and these groups each have their own languages or language families.)

While the Guelaguetza draws visitors from all over Mexico, other countries and indigenous peoples from all over Southern Mexico, the main state-sponsored festival events (which happens on El Cerro del Fortín in a purpose-built, 11,000-seat facility called the Guelaguetza Auditorium) take place on the two consecutive Mondays towards the end of July. Less than 3,000 tickets were sold to the general public in 2022, which sold out in a matter of minutes. The few tickets sold online can only be purchased using a specific local credit card. 

The remaining tickets are free to Oaxacans who wait in line overnight to get them. Generally, it's not easy for tourists and foreigners to attend the Guelaguetza. The ticket system is geared for ensuring that most, if not all, tickets available for purchase and for free go to local Oaxacans. 

During the main Guelaguetza event performances, at the end of each dance, the dancers throw food into the audience, ranging from cookies and bread to candy and tamales. After the famous annual Flor de Piña dance, the performers actually throw whole pineapples into the crowd -- we caught one of them, took it home and ate it. We also caught all kinds of breads and cookies.

The Guelaguetza events involve music, singing, dancing and costumes. Dancers wear exquisite hand-made traditional outfits that span the range from totally Spanish to totally indigenous and everything in between. Additionally, there are other concerts and events that are separately scheduled as part of the festivities with big name Mexican artists including Lila Downs, Maná and Los Angeles Azules (all of which we attended!).

We were invited by a local Zapotec friend to a village with a population of 2000 Zapotecs. The celebrations included the dance performances, food festivals, fireworks, rituals at the local church and even their own version of bullfighting, which didn't involve any harm to the bulls, as no knives or swords were used.

We’ve always wanted to attend the Guelaguetza, and we feel so privileged to take part this year — which is a special one, as the event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of covid.

The existence of the Guelaguetza in Oaxaca turns the entire city into a massive cultural gathering and nearly state-wide fiesta that lasts for two weeks. Experiencing the profound jubilation and joy of Oaxacans, nationals and all visitors coming together has been unforgettable. Seeing all the delegations from the different municipalities from the various regions of the state share their cultural roots, traditions and customs has been transformative.

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Tags Mexico, Oaxaca, Culture, Joy

Why Oaxaca really is 'the best city in the world'

July 23, 2022

Travel & Leisure magazine polled its readers on the best cities in the world for travel, and they published their list of the world’s top 25 cities.

The list included some unsurprising locations, including Florence, Italy; Seville, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; and, of course Rome, Italy.

But beating them all to be ranked the #1 city in the entire world is the place where we are right now: Oaxaca, Mexico!

“Wait, what?!?” you might ask?

We run across people all the time who have never even heard of Oaxaca, and more still who don’t even know how to pronounce it. (It’s: wha-HOCK-a). How could a small Mexican city be “better” than Florence and Rome?

But for those of us who know Oaxaca best, the reaction was: “Oh, yeah — definitely!” (And we agree, which is why we host our epic Oaxaca Mezcal Experience here!)

Travel & Leisure says Oaxaca is best because of its “vibrant culture, beautiful weather, a landscape that spans from soaring peaks to cerulean surf, and some of the country's most iconic architecture.” (The city of Oaxaca has no “surf” — it’s a six-hour drive to the coast.) They also mention the incredible climate, “world class cuisine,” the local markets, and proximity to Monte Albán, the spectacular ruin of the ancient Zapotec imperial capital.

They go into some minor detail about the wonders of mezcal, most of which is produced in the state of Oaxaca within a short drive from the city.

The article didn’t mention that both mole and mezcal are specifically Oaxacan, rather than generally Mexican, cultural gifts and that Oaxaca boasts a wide range of ingredients mostly unique to the state, such as Oaxacan cheese known as “quesillo” and herbs like hoja santa, or tlayudas and many others local delicacies.

But they missed the Big Story about Oaxaca.

Since the beginning of the Spanish conquest and occupation of Mexico, the Spanish and their descendants in the New World have tried to forcibly “civilize” the “natives” with European food — bread instead of tortillas, wheat instead of corn, wine instead of pulque, sandwiches instead of tacos.

Fancy white Mexicans stigmatized indigenous foods for centuries as the stuff of poor, unsophisticated “Indians,” clinging to European foods and identifying with American gringo food culture more than the foods of indigenous peoples of Mexico.

But the suppression of indigenous food culture was less successful here in the South of Mexico.

In the same way that America gets more Mexican the closer you get to the border (Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have vastly more and better Mexican food than Maine, Connecticut and Vermont, for example), Mexico is the reverse — the closer you get to the US border the more American and Americanized the food gets.

As one small example, flour tortillas (wheat was unknown to the Americas before the Spanish brought it here) probably originated in present-day California when it was part of a neglected Spanish territory called Alta California, and were first mass-produced in Los Angeles, California. Four tortillas are, essentially, American tortillas. In fact, Mexican menus call tacos made with flour tortillas “gringas” — which essentially means “American tacos.”

Today, flour tortillas are more commonly eaten than corn tortillas in the Northernmost Mexican states of Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora and Sinaloa and practically non-existent in the Southernmost states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

The further South you go in Mexico the more cultural memory exists about the cultivation, preparation and consumption of indigenous foods. In fact, more than half of all the people in Mexico who speak indigenous languages are Oaxacan, with one-third of the state’s population speaking languages other than Spanish and half that number unable to speak Spanish at all.

Zapotec is the largest indigenous language family in Oaxaca, and within that family are some 60 distinct languages. Mixtec is the other major language group here. And the state of Oaxaca includes a vast range of distinct ethnic groups, including the Triques, Amuzgos, Cuicatecs, Chocho, Popoloca, Ixcatec, Zoque, Mixe, Chontalees, Chinantecs, Huaves and even the Nahua (descendants of the Northern Aztecs).

Many of these ethnic groups, including and especially the Zapotec, say they were never conquered by the Spanish. And in fact that’s true — the relationship between the Spanish empire and the Oaxacan indigenous peoples was a negotiated settlement of mutual non-interference (with a few historic spikes of violent opposition and oppression). Indigenous Oaxacans maintained their pre-Hispanic culture far more than other groups in Mexico.

The Mexican elite suppression of native Mexican foods was put increasingly under pressure in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, as its popularity grew throughout European Mexico, the United States and, eventually, Europe and the rest of the world. Of course, native ingredients and foods never went out of general popularity in Mexico. But it was always considered the food of poor working stiffs, not refined foodies.

But in the last 20 years, that has changed, with Mexican chefs trained abroad starting to re-embrace indigenous foods and ingredients, culminating in the designation of Mexico City’s Pujol restaurant as the very best restaurant in all of North America and the #5 restaurant in the entire world according to the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Pujol is famous for its focus on indigenous ingredients — mole is featured heavily, and guests are served sauces made with ant eggs, for example.

There isn’t a single French restaurant in the top ten, but there are two Mexican restaurants in the top ten, both featuring indigenous ingredients.

The world fell absolutely in love with indigenous Mexican food, and so have Mexico’s elites. As a result, there has been a kind of gold rush among Mexico City chefs to come to Oaxaca and learn from indigenous Oaxacans or what locals call "traditional cocineras."

We've been exploring Mexico City and Oaxaca for many years and discovered their culinary prowess and remarkable culinary traditions long ago, which is the reason we host The Mexico City Cocktail Experience and The Oaxaca Mezcal Experience with the top chefs and artisans of the regions.

We've witnessed how Oaxaca has become acknowledged globally for its culinary traditions.

Oaxaca is alive and buzzing with culinary excitement. It’s the center of a Mexican food renaissance. Chefs and food producers and mezcal makers are energized in a frenzy of learning, exploration and exposition. This is expressed in the form of tastings, collaborative dinners and mezcal-fueled, food-centric parties.

For the food obsessed (including us), Oaxaca is the most exciting place on earth right now. And it’s why Oaxaca is, in fact, the best city in the world. And why Oaxaca became our favorite place long ago.

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Tags Oaxaca, Mexico, Best

Truffles, truffle dogs and truffle hunting in Provence

June 21, 2022

Provence is, above all, farm land — an agricultural countryside, but a special one. What makes Provence special are three kinds of farms: grape, lavender and truffle. 

You can see the vineyards and lavender fields everywhere. But the truffle farms remain hidden away.

And while the grapes are processed into wine and the lavender into 100 different products (including lavender oil), we eat the truffles completely unprocessed. 

While the hunting of truffles that grow naturally in forests goes back at least 4,000 years and spans many countries, truffle farming is particularly associated with Provence. 

Trufficulture, the farming and cultivation of truffles, started in Provence in 1808 when Joseph Talon, of Apt, transplanted the oak tree seedlings growing under trees where truffles had been found. Other French farmers experimented with trufficulture, and later Auguste Rousseau of Carpentras planted 17 acres of truffle-producing oak trees in the 1840s. 

By the end of the century, 190,000 acres of truffle-producing trees had been planted and truffles were a common ingredient in French cooking among all social classes. But French truffle production declined in the 20th Century, with war, industrialization, urbanization and other factors, and production today is a tiny fraction of what it was over a hundred years ago.

Roughly 80% of the truffles produced in France are farmed. France has nearly 20,000 truffle farmers, who produce around 30% of the world’s truffles.

How does truffle farming work, exactly? 

A truffle is a tuber, which is an underground fungus that evolved to live symbiotically with trees. In order to grow, truffles need very specific conditions: the right soil, climate, tree and spores. 

To farm truffles, farmers buy trees (in France, usually oak trees) with roots that have been inoculated with truffle spores. They plant them in locations where they believe truffles can grow.

And then they wait. 

It takes between 7 and 10 years after planting for trees to start producing truffles, if they do produce them at all. Many inoculated trees never produce truffles. 

Truffles need mild, dry winters and warm summers with lots of sunshine. Provence is ideal. 

And most truffle farms are hidden away on purpose and truffle farmers cultivate direct relationships with sellers, chefs and consumers. The world of truffles is rife with theft, trafficking, fakery, and fraud. Flavorless cheap Chinese truffles are smuggled into Europe and sold as the good kind. Truffle thieves show up to truffle farms with their own dogs and steal them. In France, the police often set up roadblocks during truffle season to search cars for stolen truffles. 

During the Provence truffle seasons of summer and winter, farmers use dogs trained since puppyhood to find truffles. (They used to use pigs, but large, hard-to-control pigs were far too interested in eating the truffles. Dogs don’t care about truffles — only the reward for finding them, which is usually a small piece of ham.

Truffle dogs and their handlers (often the farmer, but sometimes a hired specialist) visit the spots daily where truffles might grow — you can tell because the truffles defensively kill grass and weeds around the trees so they can hog the nutrients. The dogs use their amazing sense of smell to search for truffles. When they identify a spot, they start digging. The handler stops them, and does the digging themselves gently with a special trowel. When a truffle is pulled out of the ground, they let the dog smell it directly, then immediately give the dog a treat. 

Farmers rinse and scrub the dirt off, let them dry then have them delivered immediately. 

During our Provence Rosé Experience, we spend some quality time with our truffle farmer friend and his dogs, and go truffle hunting, then spend hours enjoying very fresh truffles at his home with a banquet of other delicious foods, as well as champagne and other wine. It’s a master class in truffles, and the most delicious way to learn about this magnificent ingredient. 

How and why to eat truffles

Truffles taste mushroomy, earthy and intoxicating, and the taste lasts in your mouth for a long time. 

The vast majority of truffle-related products are not recommended. The highest quality truffle oil, truffle salt and other truffle-infused products can sometimes be nice (the bad stuff uses fake truffle aroma), but don’t even remotely compare to freshly sliced or grated raw truffles.

Even whole raw truffles aren’t great if they’re not fresh. They last little over a week. But unscrupulous vendors try to sell older truffles in the market, hoping to find inexperienced buyers. 

You can tell the freshness of truffles by gently squeezing them. if they’re too soft, they’re no longer worth eating. Fresh truffles should be firm, but not dry and hard when you squeeze them. 

Out of the more than hundred varieties of truffles, only 12 varieties are good to eat. In Provence, the most prized variety is the black Perigord truffle. (White truffles, which cannot be farmed, are mainly from Italy, but also Croatia.)

Truffles are very low calorie, and are rich in potassium and vitamins A, D and K. 

Truffles give off a wide range of scent molecules, and also pheromones. One of these is called androstenone, which is the pheromone in the saliva of male pigs that attracts female wild and domestic pigs to truffles. 

One of the scent molecules is called anandamide, which has been described as the “bliss molecule.” The chemical is similar to the psychoactive compound in marijuana, called tetrahydrocannabinol. Smelling the anandamide in truffles causes your brain to release happiness-inducing chemicals. 

It’s likely that truffles evolved to release this chemical to attract mammals to them. Making us happy (and wild pigs and other mammals) is part of their reproductive strategy. 

Truffles are unlike any other food ingredient. They should be consumed immediately after being thinly sliced. And as a flavor, they should never take a back seat to other flavors. They require fat and salt without other strong ingredients. For example, on a slice of cheese, or a slice of bread with a farmers cheese. Olive oil or butter are usually involved. But truffles lend themselves to creativity. 

One of our favorite pizzas available in some good restaurants in Provence has extremely thin crust, very mild cheese, no sauce and is covered in freshly shaved truffles (the picture above shows one of these pizzas we enjoyed recently).

Anything you put in a jar with truffles will acquire a wonderful truffle flavor. (The truffles themselves should never be submerged in any oil or liquid.) The easiest and best way to store truffles is in a jar in the fridge with eggs. The smell and taste of truffles will go right through the shells and infuse the eggs with truffliciousness. Pro tip: Scramble the eggs, sprinkle a mild cheese all over them, then cover them with freshly sliced or grated truffles for the ultimate in truffle eggs. 

Truffles are one of nature’s greatest culinary gifts. And the truffle farmers of Provence — and their cute truffle dogs — are the heroes who make sure we can all enjoy them. 

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Tags France, Provence, Truffles

Why rosé pairs with… Provence!

May 5, 2022

Provence is the undisputed rosé capital of the world. Stroll along the Côte d’Azur and it’s clear that everyone is drinking it. A pale pink bottle of wine sits on every restaurant table and every beach blanket. Brosés (rosé bros) stroll along the shore with bottle in hand, drinking directly from the bottle. Tourists slurp down frosés (frozen rosé).

Rosé seems like a modern wine style, but it’s very old.

In fact, Provence was the first place where the French made wine. And the first French wine was rosé — mostly pink-orange field blends of white and red grapes. Locals were taught wine-making by the Phoenicians more than 2,600 years ago.

In other words, people were drinking rosé on the French Riviera long before people in Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne even heard of wine.

Centuries later, the Romans distributed rosé from Provence to the entire Roman world, and Massilia (now called Marseille) was synonymous with delicious rosé throughout the Roman Empire.

That was a big deal back then. Light red wines were far more common than deep reds well into the Middle Ages. (Darker red wines were generally considered inferior to pale reds until just a few centuries ago. Red wine was for commoners and rosé was for the aristocrats.)

What is rosé, anyway?

Red wine is made red with color from the skins of red wine grapes. White wine is white because it’s made from grape juice without skin contact. Rosé is wine made with just a little color from red-grape skins.

This is usually achieved by short skin contact (just a few hours), blending whites and reds (which is illegal in France) or the saignée method, which is the making of rosé as a byproduct of red wine-making. Saignée (pronounced sone-YAY) is a French technique where some juice is removed from red wine during fermentation to increase the skin-to-juice ratio, which intensifies the color and taste of red wine. The removed juice is pink, and fermented separately to make rosé.

The enormous Cotes de Provence AOC alone produces around three-quarters of all the wine in Provence, and roughly 80% of that in the form of rosé.

Most other AOCs in Provence also produce a lot of rosé, mainly using Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Tibouren, Counoise, Carignan, Braquet, Folle Noire and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties.

The reputation of rosé was tarnished in the 20th Century with the popularity of two bad Portuguese rosés called Mateus and Lancers, which dominated the US rosé market from the mid 40s to the mid 80s. The super sweet white Zinfandel “blush wine” craze of the 80s didn’t do rosé’s reputation any favors, either. (White Zin was created by accident in 1975 by Bob Trinchero who tried to make dry rosé with the saignée method, and a stuck fermentation foiled his plans. The resulting low-alcohol, high-sugar product turned out to be a hit with consumers.)

But since the 2000s, Americans started discovering better rosé, mostly from Provence. Serious French and American wine snobs started appreciating great rosé only in the last few years.

Now, rosé is made and consumed globally. But the very best is still made in Provence.

And that’s where we come in.

We have searched and researched and tasted rosés all around Provence, and our Provence Experience guests drink only the world’s greatest rosés — wines that are never exported to the US — during our adventure (as well as Provence’s greatest reds and whites).

And we prove once and for all that Julia Child was right: Rosé pairs with everything.

Join us and see for yourself! — Mike

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Tags France, Provence, Wine, Rosé

Magic Oaxaca!

March 11, 2022

The magic of gathering around the table with kindred spirits is unforgettable. It’s the place where lifetime memories and lifelong friendships are created.

We had the pleasure of creating a magical gathering with an exquisite meal prepared by our friend and talented chef Israel Loyola Espinosa at the beautiful Hotel Sin Nombre during the recent Oaxaca Experience. But there are always secret new gatherings and endless surprises during this once-in-a-lifetime Oaxaca Experience. We can’t wait for you to feel the magic of gathering for The Oaxaca Experience in December.

Tags Mexico, Oaxaca, Magic

Morocco after the plague

March 2, 2022

We're in Morocco, and so happy to be here again!

Before the pandemic, we used to come two or three times a year, sometimes for two months at a time. But this is our first trip to Morocco in nearly three years.

Like many countries, Morocco closed during the pandemic. But few closed as tightly as Morocco. This country not only banned international flights to and from Morocco, but also all travel between cities internally. When Morocco shuts down, they *really* shut down.

Morocco opened again on February 7, and we landed in the country on the 20th.

The entry to Morocco required both full vaccination, plus a PRC covid test within 48 hours of entry into Morocco. Yet when we landed at the airport, nobody checked the test we took and instead were herded along with everyone else into one of a series of medical tents outside the airport for a covid test administered by the Moroccan government.

Even two weeks after the opening, many businesses were still closed. Most of the shops that were still closed when we arrived actually opened during our first week in Marrakesh, with roughly 90% open on the day we left.

(Restaurants, hotels and riads had been ordered shut by the government. Most stores, restaurants, hotels, riads and other businesses went into debt and laid off their employees. Before the pandemic, tourism employed some 500,000 Moroccans.)

During the lockdown, Moroccans were subject to early and draconian curfews and limitations on movement.

Marrakesh is a tough city, and probably the one most prone to hustling, scams and ripoffs. I got a haircut, and didn't establish the price in advance (a rookie move). He said the price was $50, and Amira talked him down to $30, which is ten times the going rate for haircuts in Marrakesh.

We visited some of our favorite restaurants, which had just re-opened. And while we were very happy to find that they survived the pandemic, we were often their only customers.

Many businesses, including riads and restaurants, don't take credit cards anymore because during the pandemic they stopped paying the fees for using the credit card terminals and system.

Tourist vans and cars all had to be parked, and Marrakesh didn’t have the space to park them. So the government opened up the pedestrian square in front of the Koutoubia, a 900-year-old mosque that is probably the city’s most recognizable landmark, for parking.

Construction is everywhere. A massive construction effort has obviously begun, especially in Marrakesh. Many of the streets and storefronts are in the middle of re-building. The city has piles of sand, gravel and bricks all over the place, and many streets in the medina are dusty and uneven. But the results are already showing, and the improvements are making everything better.

What's clear above all is that Morocco has seen the worst of it and can expect a very good recovery, which has already begun.

In the meantime, we're very much looking forward to the first Morocco Experience we’ve been able to do in nearly three years.

Pandemic or no pandemic, Morocco is eternal.

Fantastic wine and delicious food, stunning landscapes, ancient medinas, incredible architecture, skilled artisans, rich traditions and wonderful people — we can't wait to show Morocco’s joys and beauty to our group of Gastronomads. — Mike

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Tags Morocco

The Ultimate Valentine

February 14, 2022

Tens of millions of tourists see Venice each year. But hardly anyone knows about the heaven-on-Earth Prosecco Road less than one hour North.

And yet this may be the most beautiful wine country in the world, with a fantastic and wildly underappreciated culture.

While everyone is familiar with the City of Venice, the islands and lagoon, the culture of medieval Venice responsible for that city was part of the larger "Serenìsima Repùblega Vèneta," which means "Most Serene Republic of Venice" in the Venetian language. The "country" of Venice extended all the way up to the Prosecco Road to the mountains beyond.

During our incredible Prosecco Experience, we explore the wonders of Venetian culture — the incredible food, wine, architecture and history — which lasted for a thousand years.

The Prosecco Road itself connects the beautiful towns of Conegliano and Valdobbidene and all the charming villages between, winding over brilliant green vineyards and forests. The landscape is breathtaking and picture-perfect.

The castles, abbeys, historic towns and incredible beauty of the Prosecco Hills should be well known to every Europe-loving traveler. But the tourist masses haven't found this idyllic spot yet, and so the Prosecco Road is one of the last undiscovered wine countries.

Which is just how we like it. We don't do tourism. The Prosecco Experience is not a tour. It's an immersive exploration of an incredible place and wonderful culture with our brilliant and visionary local food and wine friends. (We can’t give you the details; every exclusive gathering, meal, activity and location is a secret.)

But if you guess we’ll be drinking some incredible wine — well, that’s a very good guess. The Prosecco Hills is a wine country without equal — you're always surrounded by vineyards on rolling hills. We'll wake up and go to bed surrounded by vineyards.

And while everyone is familiar with the kind of prosecco this region exports abroad, the best prosecco can be tasted only in the Prosecco Hills. This Experience will transform your relationship with prosecco. We'll also enjoy a wide range of other incredible, astonishing red and white wines made only in the region. We’ll enjoy this wine with the winemakers themselves.

And the food — the food!! — so amazing. We can’t wait to show you this magical, undiscovered gastronomic paradise.

We have just one room available for our next Prosecco Experience, which happens May 23 through 28, 2022. Book now and make it yours. You deserve this!

Tags Authenticity, Joy, Love, Vineyards, Italy, Venice, Prosecco, Wine, Experience

Planning for Serendipity

February 12, 2022

It’s January — roughly halfway through Winter. And we’re working on all kinds of exciting things for the coming year, including new surprises for The Gastronomad Experiences. 

Now that some of our Gastronomad friends who have enjoyed most of our Experiences locations are starting to repeat locations, we finally get to see friends surprised by how different each Experience is, even in the same general location. 

Another trend we’re noticing: Gastronomad Experiences are increasingly selling out further in advance than before. Word of mouth is snowballing. So thank you to all who are singing our praises. 

If you’ve done a Gastronomad Experience, you know that serendipity— the delightful phenomenon of accidental discovery — is all part of the plan. 

You know. Like the movie “Serendipity” starring Kate Beckinsale in which one of the characters says that “life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences, but rather, it's a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan.” 

I don’t know if that’s true about life, but it’s certainly true of our Gastronomad Experiences. : )

We plan events so that specific amazing things definitely happen, but also in a way that lets unplanned things happen. 

Either way, it’s all a surprise. Most of what we do is a secret that you won’t find out about until you’re doing it! (We do advise each day on what to wear and what to bring.)

It’s been a rough couple of years and a long winter. You deserve serendipity — and the joy of magnificent and awe-inspiring magical gatherings and the thrill of our exclusive and authentic culinary travel adventures with kindred spirits, visionary chefs, world-class wine-makers and skilled artisans.

Plan for happy accidents. And do it soon! — Amira

Tags Experience, Happiness

It's super easy to get lost in the Fez Medina

January 13, 2022

The Fez Medina (the ancient city of Fez) is pretty small, but has 9,000 lanes, alleys and walkways that go every which way. Even though we’re super familiar with Fez, getting lost is inevitable. Here I had gone down a hundreds narrow alleys and turns, only to arrive at another dead end.

Tags Morocco, Fez

On the places you won't find in the travel guides

January 12, 2022

When you’re on a two-week vacation, you need to turn to the travels guides — books, sites, apps, blog posts, social media posts and maps recommendations. But when you’re living abroad as a digital nomad, you have the time to explore, find the stuff that’s not in the guides and try them out.

In this picture, I’m in line for a dive Xochimilco pulqueria (I’m the gringo at the back of the line with the giant backpack). This bar is purely local. And, in fact, it’s unlikely to spot gringos even in the neighborhood.

We love this kind of discovery. And the reason is that once any bar, restaurant or other thing blows up in the travel guide, it changes. It’s great to experience the unchanged places, which authentically cater to locals.

The only way to discover local-only establishments at scale is to spend months and months in a place, wandering around and relying on serendipity.

Tags Authenticity, Mexico, Mexico City

In the Moroccan Sahara, you can see the stars. All of them!

January 5, 2022

On our first trip into the Sahara, we traveled from the edge by camel for a few hours into the desert. Our guide, a barefoot Berber, suggested we scamper up a nearby dune to watch the sun set while he made dinner. I thought the food would be horrible, sandy, cold or weird, but it was in fact the most delicious tagine I had ever eaten. The flat disks of bread started out fresh, but were dry as crackers by the end of our meal due to the extreme dryness of the desert, which steals all the moisture from everything.

Our tent was made of camel hair, and was dark olive green. The night was so perfect, we moved our bed outside onto the sand and slept under the stars. The entire sky was stars — there was only bright stars and dim stars and bright galaxies and dim galaxies — so many stars that you couldn’t see any black space between.

The Milky Way was rising as we drifted off to sleep. I woke up hours later, and it was directly overhead, mostly filling the sky. The galaxy felt sometimes like a ceiling just 10 feet over my head and sometimes like a blanket actually covering me.

Tags Morocco, Sahara

Here's one for the bucket list

January 3, 2022

Once in your life, make sure you find yourself in a beautiful wooden boat on the Grand Canal in Venice at sunset. Trust me on this one.

Tags Venice, Italy

Let's get real in 2022

December 31, 2021

The last two years have tested everyone’s patience, endurance and forbearance. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s this: Life is short. The world is vast. Being cooped up sucks. And people are precious.

Let’s make 2022 the year we embrace the real and reject the artificial. Let’s turn our backs on fake “friends” on social media and any other social interaction that doesn’t bring us joy. Let’s reject fake, fast and junk food. Let’s spend less time in our concrete jungles and track housing complexes and strip malls.

Let’s give ourselves the gift of what we really need: Real food. Real friends. Nature.

Let’s get real.

Tags Authenticity

The cure for the funk you’re in

December 21, 2021

Everyone these days is feeling grumpy. Or down. Or some level of frustration. Or a vague combination of all three. It was noticeable enough before. But now even the holiday season isn’t working its usual magic.

The New York Times said: “Millions of Americans Can’t Shake a Gloomy Outlook.”

It’s this damned pandemic. The illness, death and loss has created a sustained sorrow — a second pandemic of poor mental health. The on again, off again mask mandates and lock-downs make everyone feel trapped and uncertain about the future. The new variants. The political acrimony. It’s all just too much to sustain for what will soon be two entire years.

It seems like there’s no escape, no break, from bad news.

And so it’s hard to get inspired, or feel joy.

Or is it?

Amira and I just got back from a week in Oaxaca. (And three days in Mexico City.)

Traveling to Mexico is not unusual for us, even during the pandemic. We’ve been to Oaxaca six times this year. The difference is that we’re normally very busy. But this time we didn’t really do anything except meet with lots of friends, eat a lot and have a ton of fun.

We did some hiking, including some quality time hiking up to the Monte Albán site (ruins of the capital city of the Zapotec empire), and then just hung around among and upon ancient pyramids all day.

We ate some delicious food (including a special chef’s dinner complete with on-premises mezcal distillation and live music).

What we discovered is: This is the cure!

Here’s the specific formula for curing a pandemic funk:

  1. Go to a beautiful place that has great food

  2. Let go of all structure — no bedtime, no calls, no work

  3. Immerse yourself in the place and forget about home for a time

  4. Hang out with people who are positive and supportive

  5. Get some exercise and sunshine and spend time in nature

  6. Don’t check the news or social media — do a digital detox

  7. Avoid tourist services, hotels and conventional activities

  8. Listen to music, dance, eat and forget about the world and all your troubles!

The reason this works is that you’re removing yourself from your everyday life, letting go of all the problems and sadness in the world and re-acquainting yourself with care-free fun and the joy of food, drink and friends.

Yes, this is the Gastronomad way to travel, and it’s something that happens during our Gastronomad Experiences. Even more so, because during an Experience our guests make no decisions at all, which is yet another way to take a break for people who make too many decisions every day.

But whether you join a Gastronomad Experience or not, it’s time to use our 8-point formula to break that pandemic funk you’re in.

Joy to the world! -Mike

Tags Experience, Happiness
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A glorious and surreal return to Italy

September 22, 2021

We just spent a few weeks in Italy after two years away. It was glorious. And surreal.

We spent time in Venice and the Veneto region visiting old friends and meeting new ones, exchanging stories of loss, pain, devastation, survival and the silver linings we all found in the clouds.

Wandering aimlessly through the labyrinthine alleys and canals of Venice without the normal throngs of foreign tourists was like going back in time. The canals still looked pretty clean and the nights were quiet — a rare, probably once-in-a-lifetime experience.

But it didn’t last. By the time we left weeks later, Venice got crowded again with visitors from all over the world. The spike was driven both by easing or clarified travel restrictions, plus the one-two punch of a Dolce Gabbana fashion show and Venice Cinema Week.

Venice was extra festive and interesting with all the fashion and film goings-on, which attracted all kinds of celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. It felt like Venice was on the cusp of returning to its normal hustle and bustle of pre-pandemic times.

Venice was so crowded, we wore masks even outdoors in the narrow streets.

After hosting The Prosecco Experience, which just ended a week ago Saturday, we’re feeling restored, inspired and filled with hope.

More than ever, we are proud to say that The Gastronomad Experience is not only the most joyful way to travel, but also far safer than traveling on your own — with or without a pandemic.

Covid tested our resilience and turned what would have been our best year into our worst. We have mourned the loss of people and have shared the sadness of friends whose marriages ended during the stress of a horribly painful pandemic. Restaurants, bakeries and cafes we used to love have permanently gone out of business. Prices for everything have gone up, making travel more expensive than ever before.

Still, though we’re all still facing a world fractured by a devastating pandemic, it’s important to celebrate every small victory, and life itself. And there’s nothing that brings more lasting joy and happiness than sojourning in faraway lands, exploring other landscapes and eating and drinking local foods and wine.

Joy and gratitude are the best antidotes for pain and suffering and something we can all cultivate. Exploring the world, learning from other cultures, tasting local cuisines and wine at their place of origin with locals while enjoying breathtaking views in the world’s most beautiful places is good medicine for the soul. It’s what nourishes our curious minds and our wandering souls.

Above all, it’s the people who sign up for Gastronomad Experiences that renew our spirits. These are formidable people with open minds and open hearts. They trust us despite, the limited information we share about the Experience to come. (Our activities remain secret so we can surprise you every day.)

Our trip to Italy was poignant and surreal, but on balance filled with joy, hope and the happiness that always comes from great food, amazing wine, stunning landscapes and, above all, love and friendship around a table.

Tags Italy, Prosecco, Experience, Joy

Wow! The scenery in the Prosecco Hills!

September 1, 2021

The Prosecco Experience isn’t just about incredible Venetian food and some of Italy’s best wine. These culinary delights take place against a backdrop of pristine rolling hills covered by cascading vineyards, hilltop villages, ancient farmhouses and heavenly skies. Only two spots left for The Prosecco Experience in May, 2022. You deserve this.

Tags Italy, Prosecco, Experience, Wine

A rainy morning in Venice

August 27, 2021

Venice is famous for, among other things, its throngs of tourists and seasonal flooding. But Venice is so nice in the early morning when nobody is around, and during a rain when the sea level is behaving.

Tags Italy, Venice

Crispy egg… apparently?

August 24, 2021

Landed in Venice, showered and made haste to a very good restaurant called Ai Mercanti up meet up with friends. Couldn’t help but notice that they’re serving what are “apparently” crispy eggs. Don’t they know?

Tags Venice, Italy

Spain becomes the best place in Europe for digital nomads

August 21, 2021

Remote old villages. Digital nomads. They were made for each other. 

The villages need people who spend money without taking a local job. The nomads need a beautiful, quiet place to work, live and experience what it’s like to live in a traditional setting. 

That’s why some 30 villages in Spain — each with fewer than 5,000 residents — formed an organization called the “National Network of Welcoming Villages for Remote workers.”

Communities across Europe have embraced the digital nomad movement, especially in Italy. But Spain’s program is different. 

The site is similar to AirBnB, showing how many guest houses are available in each town, and enabling nomads to book a place. 

The Spanish program offers up a local resident host to serve as a liaison for nomads, connecting them with life in the town. 

This program gets at the heart of the digital nomad and Gastronomad lifestyle. You can forget the mobs of tourists in Barcelona. Instead, visit the real Spain where locals will greet you with open arms. 

The organization is totally compatible with a new “Startups  Law” that enables digital nomads to stay and work in Spain for up to two years at a time. 

Suddenly, Spain moves to the front of the line as a great place for digital nomads to temporarily live.

Tags Nomadic
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