What Makes The Gastronomad Experience So Special?

I'm writing this while sitting in the living room of our friends' home in Sydney, Australia. Mike and I feel so blessed for getting to meet so many incredibly genuine, intelligent, kind and beautiful human beings during each and every Gastronomad Experience. In fact, that's where we met our friends hosting us here in Australia.

Those of you who have joined us on a Gastronomad Experience know exactly what I'm talking about. You encounter wonderful people and forge deep and genuine friendships that will last a lifetime. Our family of friends keeps growing. And we're overwhelmed with gratitude for this remarkable and exceptional Gastronomad community.

The good fortune to meet so many kindred spirits who share the same passion for delicious food, exquisite wine, real culture and unique culinary travel adventures is the best kind of serendipity. That is the common thread of our connection during every Gastronomad Experience.

The gift of these friendships is not our doing, but yours. You're the gift to us — and to each other. The Gastronomad Experiences' guests are self-selected, and always turn out to be kindred spirits.

To sign up for a culinary travel experience, where the details are kept secret and every activity is a surprise, on the other side of the world takes a rare combination of courage, trust and a driving obsession with good food and wine.

Your trust in us and in our secret itineraries speaks volumes about your open mind, trusting soul and true sense of adventure. And your passion for gastronomic discovery is what inspires us to create the most beautiful, delicious, dreamy and enchanting culinary travel experiences in the world. It's a true honor for us to welcome you as friends in our most favorite corners of the world where we feel proud to introduce you to our local visionary artisan friends who also become your friends.

And as I return to finish writing this journal, we're now in Tasmania where we're glowing from all the natural beauty, textures, scents and tastes we've enjoyed thanks to the hospitality of our wonderful friends.

Having seen a bit of Australia and some of Tasmania, I can unequivocally say that I find myself enamored of the warmth of the people we've met and the natural beauty of these landscapes.

Traveling to new and unique places fill us with awe and wonder. It drives us to create ever more magical experiences that foster human connection, inspire joy and nourish the soul.

When we gather around a table in a beautiful place to celebrate the joy of living, enjoying delicious food and exquisite wine with kindred spirits — that's when we understand and discover how good and sweet life can be. It’s you and your trusting nature that makes The Gastronomad Experience extraordinary!

Whether you’re one of our Gastronomad friends, or a future Gastronomad, please let me know if you'd like to join us for one of our Gastronomad Experiences in 2024. We have a handful of spots available this year. You’re always welcome at our table!

Joy and adventure,

Amira

Seasons feelings: What is the meaning of our lives?

‘Tis the season for reflecting on the year we leave behind, when we aspire to do better and live a more deliberate life in the new year to come.

We ask ourselves: What is the meaning of our lives?

The answer is different for each of us, if we can find an answer. A better question might be: How do we find more meaning in life? Or, better still: What do we live for?

The beauty of a new year is that it represents a new beginning. It gives us hope. It might be a delusion. But it also might be true that our normal expectation that life will grind on as usual is the delusion.

I’m profoundly grateful for the happiness in my life. On the internet, it may seem that I have a perfect life full of joy and adventure, roaming the world and exploring different cultures.

While I feel fortunate to live the life I enjoy — it's true that my life is often filled with joy and adventure — it's far from perfect. My heart aches every single day for people I love deeply and who suffer beyond hope. And I know that most of us carry heavy burdens and sadness in our hearts and souls.

As human beings, we have to endure all sorts of pain, suffering and broken hearts. This is one reason why Gastronomad Experiences exist. They were created to provide a place for joy and wonder beyond what most people can even imagine. During experiences, quotidian existence vanishes, replaced by constant beauty, unmitigated fun and abundant delicious food and drink, magnificent landscapes and endless laughter, joy and wonder. Time stops. And history is all around us.

Traveling is wonderful and, I believe, essential for our overall wellbeing. Travel done right takes not only to a different place, but a different time, which we can experience as a different self. This is why we crave stories — to live another life, if only for a moment.

The Gastronomad Experiences are designed to make you feel truly alive, the way nothing else can.

Each Gastronomad Experience is unique. Even those in the same location are never the same, which is why we’ve been having guests signing up to repeat the same locations.

The Gastronomad Experience was created to celebrate food, life, human connection and sustainability through joyful gatherings with locals. It is a slow travel culinary experience in the most beautiful spots on Earth with some of the most wonderful artisans in the world. But it's really about looking at life from a beautiful new perspective that changes your view about the whole world.

Mike and I strive to explore and learn from other cultures and the different ways others live around the world. With The Gastronomad Experiences, we do this through hosting immersive and meaningful culinary travel explorations that celebrate life, honor our common humanity and help us cherish the threads that connect us all.

We find that the more we enjoy fun and celebration with other like minded people around the world, the more productive and creative we become, which in essence is part of the art of cultivating joy and living life fully.

Our mission is for our guests to rediscover the beauty, joy and love within each of us — and the incredible depth of traditional human cultures.

Gastronomad Experiences are the food that sustains us in all aspects of our lives so that we can enjoy the experience of living. In other words, it's what we live for.

Wishing you all a joyful season with magical gatherings and the happiest of new years! May you find more meaning and joy near and far.

From the bottom of my heart, much love to you all.

Big hugs and kisses,

Amira

Planning for Serendipity

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

The cure for the funk you’re in

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

So easy to be happy in Italy

Sprinting across Rome to meet a friend at the Vatican (our friend Rev. Robert R. Ballecer, a.k.a. “Padre” of TWiT fame) and having successfully completed our epic and wondrous Prosecco Gastronomad Experience with six beautiful people, we’re taking a week off to explore parts of Italy we’ve never encountered.

Of course, we’ve been to Rome before. We came here on our honeymoon. But after Rome, we’ll travel to Naples and Sicily. And the anticipation of discovery in these places fills us with lightness and joy.

Veneto, Rome, Naples, Sicily — whatever, man! We’re in Italy!! And we’re living la Dolce Vita!

Refusing to adapt, hedonically speaking

You can't buy happiness. Or, at least, you can't buy lasting happiness. The reason is a psychological phenomenon called hedonic adaptation. (Or the "hedonic treadmill.")

The theory goes that we each have a baseline of happiness (some people are just naturally happier than others). When great things or horrible things happen to us, our happiness goes up or down accordingly. But after we get used to the new thing, our happiness level reverts to the baseline.

That shiny new smartphone makes us happier than our old phone did, but only for a short time. We ultimately revert to our previous level of happiness -- we "adapt" to the "hedonism" of owning an overpriced new gadget.

In other words, new things and new experiences do make us happy. But once they're no longer new, their effect on our sense of happiness fades with the novelty.

It turns out that we never loved that new phone because its features were great. We loved it because it's great features were new.

Living as a gastronomad, moving constantly from place to place and actively exploring new food and cultural experiences, leaves hedonic adaptation in the dust.

This month alone, Amira and I have lived or will live in Silicon Valley, Barcelona, Venice, the Prosecco Hills, Rome, Sicily, Fez, Chefchaouen, Marrakesh, Meknes, Essaouira and a tent in the Sahara. We rarely stick around any place long enough for the newness -- and the happiness -- to wear off.

There are many aspects of living as gastronomads that are happiness inducing — the friendships, the memories, the cultural enrichment.

But one aspect that’s under-appreciated is the happiness that comes from new experiences.

Happiness comes from many places, including personality, relationships and overall income level and wellbeing. We can't control some of this. But we can make life new all the time by living as globe-trotting Gastronomads -- and never letting hedonic adaptation catch us.