Gaia Retreat & Eco hostel is the culmination of many years dreaming, project managing and environmental activism by your hosts, Rasmus and Elizabeth.
We met each other in 2015 when working on a campaign for an environmental NGO. Sharing similar concerns about our planet and future, together we sought some other way of living that felt more aligned with the environmental realities we’d both become acutely aware of. Increasingly exhausted with city life and office work, in 2018 we set out to discover what the rest of Europe had to offer, and where we might lay down roots, in a converted jumbo transit van. We made a beeline for Portugal. Call it fate, call it calculated, it’s hard to pinpoint – but somehow we both felt pulled here, and despite ideas of discovering many new countries by road, we’ve hardly left since. After taking a year out to really begin to recover from all the years of stress and burn out, we began searching for a home. We discovered Casa Pequena thanks to a very friendly estate agent who paired us perfectly upon hearing our hopes and dreams – to build some kind of hostel or retreat place where people could connect with nature and remember the simplicity that underscores life.
Fast forward 3 years and that dream is very much grounded in reality, and our little retreat is open for business. And hopefully not the same kind of business we’re used to, but a new kind of business. One that seeks to be accessible, collaborative, community-focused. Business not driven by growth and expansion, but depth of experience. We want to keep things simple, so we can deliver careful attention, bespoke experiences, and the peaceful environment that is Gaia Retreat.
Anyway, more about us… Well, we can’t wait to meet you, basically. With a distinct preference for in person communication, we’d really love for your journey to Gaia Retreat to begin with a phone or video call so we can better connect and understand each other. Speak soon!
