A Gastronomad is someone who travels for the love of food, wine, and culture. They seek not only extraordinary meals, but also the people, stories, traditions, and everyday joy that surround them. Instead of standing on the outside as a tourist, a Gastronomad becomes a “temporary local,” immersing in community life, markets, kitchens, vineyards, and long tables where real connection happens.

The Gastronomad Experience is a deeply immersive way to live this lifestyle for a short, magical stretch of time: intimate, all‑inclusive culinary journeys where Amira and Mike welcome small groups of adventurous food‑lovers into some of their favorite corners of the world. These are not conventional tours, but rich, slow experiences that deliberately avoid mass tourism and crowded hotspots, connecting you instead with passionate farmers, winemakers, chefs, and artisans in breathtaking settings. Guests are treated as friends, invited into homes, cellars, and hidden gems to taste the most authentic food, wine, and cultural treasures each region has to offer—and to discover how life feels when it is lived beautifully, around the table.

Amira and Mike Elgan, lifelong gastronomads who have been traveling the world full‑time since 2006, create and host the Experiences. They are always in search of extraordinary food, wine, and human connection. Mike is a technology and culture journalist and the author of Gastronomad: The Art of Living Everywhere and Eating Everything, and Amira is the creative heart of The Gastronomad Experience, curating each journey with obsessive care for detail, atmosphere, and delight. Together, they welcome small groups of guests as if into their extended global home—connecting them with beloved local friends, artisans, and winemakers in some of their favorite places on earth.

The Gastronomad mission is to harness the transformative power of food to support truly sustainable travel, protect traditional foodways, and uplift the local communities that keep those traditions alive. Each Experience is designed so that every shared meal and encounter is both a celebration of culture and a small act of positive change—championing biodiversity, human connection, and gentle resistance to the forces that erode local food traditions.

We are Amira and Mike Elgan, lifelong gastronomads who traded a conventional life for a global one. We wander from kitchen to vineyard to long, candle-lit tables, and invite kindred spirits to join us along the way. The Gastronomad Experience was born from a simple love: gathering around a beautiful table in the world’s most soulful places, sharing unforgettable food and wine with people who quickly stop feeling like strangers. For more than a decade, our “office” has been farmhouses, markets, cellars, and friends’ kitchens around the world. There, we design once-in-a-lifetime culinary adventures for small groups of travelers who want to live, not just visit, each place they explore.

Over the years, and especially in recent seasons, this has evolved into a clear purpose: to create journeys that renew the heart, restore trust in human goodness, and offer a soft antidote to an often heavy, chaotic world. Through wide-open spaces, unhurried gatherings, and genuine community around the table, each Gastronomad Experience becomes a way to practice “the art of living fully”—celebrating beauty, joy, and belonging while tangibly supporting the people and places that give each destination its soul.

For us, travel is first and foremost an act of humility. We see ourselves as respectful visitors and grateful guests who are there to learn from, be inspired by, and be transformed by the people and places that welcome us—not to arrive with an agenda or impose our own ideas on a place. We often say that we travel not to change the world—or to change a place—but to be changed by it: to listen more than we speak, to learn from our local friends, and to leave each region a little better supported, cherished, appreciated, and understood than before.

Traveling as respectful visitors means arriving with curiosity, kindness, and a deep sense of gratitude for being welcomed into someone else’s home. It’s about honoring local rhythms and traditions, remembering that we are guests in places where others live their real, everyday lives, and moving gently through each destination so our presence feels like a blessing, not a burden. We try to let every landscape, table, and conversation soften us, teach us, and open our hearts and minds a little wider, so that when we return home, we carry those lessons with us and live differently because of the kindness, wisdom and beauty we’ve encountered.

Gastronomad Experiences have unfolded in some of the world’s most delicious and soulful regions. These regions include Provence, Tuscany, the Prosecco Hills and Venice, Sicily, Barcelona and its cava country, Morocco, Oaxaca, Mexico City, and El Salvador, with new and returning destinations added over time. Each location is chosen for its extraordinary food and wine culture, rich traditions, and the presence of trusted artisan friends—chefs, winemakers, farmers, and makers—whose hospitality and craft bring the true magic of the place vividly to life.

Each Experience immerses you in the local food, wine, and cultural traditions with a thoughtful mix of meaningful activities and unhurried time at the table. Days might include cooking with local chefs, visiting artisan producers and vibrant markets, tasting with visionary winemakers, wandering historic villages or medinas, and enjoying local art, music, or other cultural highlights. All of these activities are woven into a story that unfolds with an easy sense of surprise and delight. Generally, you can expect programming to run from about 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with built‑in free time to rest, nap, take a walk, or reset between the day’s activities and our evening dinner gatherings.

Gastronomad groups are intentionally small—typically between 4 and 12 guests, depending on location and other factors—to keep everything intimate, personal, and flexible. This scale allows for real connection with fellow travelers, hosts, and artisans, and makes it possible to access special places and experiences that simply aren’t available to large groups.

You book and pay for your own flight to the destination. From the moment you arrive on check-in day, nearly everything else is included: transfers on check-in and check-out days, your accommodations, all group meals, drinks, tastings, activities, and all in-Experience transportation. Plus, the full curation and personal hosting of the journey so you never have to worry about logistics. Once we pick you up, it’s essentially all-inclusive. You can simply relax into the week, savor every moment, and know that the only extra costs are personal purchases such as shopping, extra items during your free time, or any optional services you choose on your own, such as laundry or spa treatments where available.

Most Gastronomad Experiences are six days and five nights, long enough for deep immersion without requiring an extended time away from home. Some Experiences, such as Morocco, are typically longer (around 12 days), and a few destinations may vary slightly in length depending on the season and opportunities unique to that place.

Yes, we work closely with chefs and food providers to ensure that dietary restrictions and preferences are carefully honored. Whether you are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, or managing allergies, the menus are thoughtfully designed so you are never served anything that doesn’t fit your diet, while still enjoying delicious options at every meal.

To explore and book an Experience, visit the Experiences page at gastronomad.net/experiences and choose the destination that calls to you. On each Experience page, you can review dates, click “Details,” then select “Book Now” to see pricing, availability, and complete your reservation when you’re ready.

Once you reserve your spot, you’ll receive a welcome email with an overview of what to expect, how to prepare, and practical suggestions for packing and planning your travel. As your Experience approaches, you’ll continue to receive updates and details so you feel fully ready, excited, and cared for before you even arrive.

Yes. For groups of eight or more, it is possible to create a bespoke, custom Gastronomad Experience tailored to your preferred dates, destination, and kind of gathering. These private journeys are ideal for special celebrations, family trips, or company retreats built around unforgettable meals, wine, and shared adventures; simply reach out to Amira to begin the conversation.

Most of the costs for each Experience are paid far in advance in non‑refundable payments to our local partners, so we are not able to provide refunds or discounts at any time or for any reason or circumstance once you have booked. Every event, meal, outing, and activity is optional, but if you choose to skip something—or miss it due to flight schedules or other circumstances—no partial refunds or discounts can be offered, so we strongly recommend purchasing comprehensive travel insurance to protect your investment in case you cannot attend.

If circumstances beyond control—such as government restrictions or similar events—require that an Experience be postponed, all payments made for that Experience are applied to the new dates. In the rare case that Gastronomad must cancel an Experience entirely, guests receive a full refund; if the Experience is held and a guest cancels, the standard no‑refund policy applies, though reasonable accommodations are always pursued where possible.

Yes. Mike is a professional photographer and lovingly chronicles each experience—capturing candid moments around the table, in warm, bustling kitchens, sun-drenched vineyards, lively markets, and all the in-between magic. He has a gift for photographing everyone in a way that feels natural and flattering, often catching you in unguarded moments of laughter and joy when you look most like yourself.

This is a valuable benefit that’s included in the cost of your Experience, not an add‑on. After the journey, you’ll receive a beautifully curated digital album to keep for posterity—images to cherish for a lifetime, filled with the faces, places, and shared meals that made your time together so unforgettable.

You can stay connected with our stories, reflections, and future Experiences by subscribing to the free, ad‑free Gastronomad Experience Journal email newsletter, which gives you a front‑row seat to our global culinary adventures. For a more visual taste of daily life on the road and behind the scenes of each Experience, you can also follow The Gastronomad Experience on Instagram and join us there for little glimpses of the magic as it unfolds.

A Gastronomad Experience isn’t a tour; it’s a magical culinary adventure that gently steps outside of tourism and drops you into real, local life. You’re not rushing from sight to sight—you’re lingering over long, soulful meals, stepping into private kitchens, vineyards, and cellars, and being welcomed into spaces that usually open only for friends, not tourists.​

Each journey is crafted as a one‑of‑a‑kind celebration of place, people, food, and wine, with as much care for how you feel as for what you see and taste. Guests often describe these weeks as life‑changing—joyful, heart‑opening experiences that nourish the soul, create a true sense of belonging, and leave them inspired, renewed, and deeply connected to the world and to one another.

To read actual testimonials, please click on this link: gastronomad.net/get

Gastronomad Experiences are crafted for people who love remarkable food, exceptional wine, and life-changing immersive travel, and who value meaningful human connection. If you’re excited by exquisite food and wine, fun learning, and rich cultural immersion, you will feel right at home with us.

They are ideal for couples, friends, families, and solo travelers alike. Our intimate group size and communal tables make these journeys especially wonderful for people who want to connect with like-minded food and wine lovers and often leave with lifelong friends.

Absolutely—solo travelers are warmly welcomed. The small group size, shared tables, and inclusive atmosphere make it easy for individuals to feel at home, connect with kindred spirits, and form friendships that often last long after the journey ends

We stay in distinctive, thoughtfully chosen places that feel as special as the Experiences themselves. Instead of generic hotels, you’ll sleep in properties with real personality and a strong sense of place—an elegantly restored farmhouse in the countryside, a beautifully designed boutique stay in the heart of a historic town, or, where it truly fits, a five‑star luxury property that still feels deeply authentic to the region. Every accommodation is selected for its atmosphere, views, comfort, and story, and always includes the essentials for a restorative stay—comfortable, high‑quality bedding, air conditioning where it makes sense for the season and climate, and well‑appointed bathrooms—so that your time “at home” feels every bit as magical as the time you spend exploring.​

Each Gastronomad Experience is thoughtfully shaped around its destination and what will make your time there feel most magical and effortless. Some Experiences use a single “home base” in the heart of the region, from which we venture out to surrounding villages, wineries, farms, and cultural sites so you can unpack once, settle in, and still explore widely.

Other Experiences are “moveable feasts,” where we change locations once, twice, or even more (as with our two‑week journey in Morocco) to minimize drive times and deepen your immersion in different sub‑regions. For example, the Sicily Gastronomad Experience explores multiple areas of eastern Sicily, each with its own distinct culture, landscape, and food and wine traditions.

Meals are the beating heart of every Experience—long, joyful gatherings in storybook‑beautiful settings that feel as if they’ve been pulled straight from a fairytale. Each week is a carefully curated tapestry of unforgettable restaurant meals and intimate feasts in private homes, kitchens, vineyards, farms, and other hidden places you’d never find on your own.

You can expect to cook with and learn from local chefs and artisans, share slow, soulful meals in friends’ homes, and savor extraordinary restaurant dining that showcases the very best of each region. You will never have a repetitive schedule of only restaurant meals or only in‑house catering; instead, every table is chosen to enchant you, surprise you, and make you feel completely alive.

We intentionally keep groups small so everyone is comfortable, relaxed, and truly cared for. This intimacy allows us to move easily, access special places, and make sure you always feel seen and included. The specific size of any specific Experience depends on a wide range of factors, but tends to range from 6 - 12 people.

Once you arrive, transfers on check‑in and check‑out days are provided. All group transportation during the Experience is included and pre‑arranged. We typically use private vehicles or comfortable vans and local transport suited to the roads, villages, and activities on the itinerary. We work with trusted local drivers and, depending on the destination, group size, and circumstances, may also do some of the driving ourselves to keep everything flexible and personal.

Once you arrive in the destination city, the Experience is essentially all‑inclusive. Your lodging, all group meals, drinks, tastings, activities, in‑Experience transportation, and hosted experiences are covered, with only your airfare to and from the destination excluded.

The only additional out‑of‑pocket expenses are optional personal purchases—such as shopping or extra items during your free time—as well as any laundry services you may choose to use.

Experiences are priced in US dollars, and payment is made in USD. To see current pricing for a specific destination and date, simply visit gastronomad.net/experiences, select the Experience you’re interested in, and click “Details” or “Book Now” to view the exact rate for that departure and begin the booking process.

Everything begins with people. We partner with farmers, winemakers, cooks, and artisans we truly love—people who pour their hearts into their land, their craft, and their hospitality. Many have become close friends over the years, and that friendship is exactly what opens the doors you step through on a Gastronomad Experience.

From there, we choose places that feel soulful and alive with local character: a restored farmhouse filled with history, a tiny family‑run winery, a tucked‑away bar or trattoria where the whole village gathers. Nothing is generic or cookie‑cutter; every venue is chosen because it tells the story of that place in a way you can taste and feel.

For us, food and travel are inseparable from responsibility. We design each Experience to support small, ethical producers and to help protect the traditional food cultures that make these regions so special. When you join us, your presence directly supports families, farms, and artisans who are keeping old ways alive in a modern world.

Whenever possible, we work with people who farm and produce in organic, biodynamic, or similarly thoughtful ways—true stewards of their land, their animals, and their communities. We keep our groups small, move gently through each place, and choose under‑the‑radar venues so that our impact is light, our gratitude is deep, and every gathering around the table honors the culture, the environment, and the people who welcome us in.

Questions are always welcome. If there’s anything more you’d like to know about a specific destination, dates, logistics, or custom trips, you can email Amira directly at amira@gastronomad.net , and she will respond personally. The conversation often begins long before the journey does—and that’s part of the joy.