Discovering Our Tribe And Finding Our Vibe: A Transformational Journey In Portugal

We found our village, now we just have to make it ours permanently.

End of August we traveled to Portugal (Yuma's first flight, couldn't go smoother) to join a family festival. We knew nobody in this community nor did we know anything about the organisator and the festival. One day I just randomly scrolling through Instagram, when an Ad caught my attention. It was a reel promotion of a family child's first gathering. After seconds, I was sold. This was exactly what we were looking for, I just knew we had to go there. At this point I had barely known anything about this festival, I just knew it was in Portugal, one week long, and meant for families. But I didn't need more information. I just intuitively knew that we had to go there. So the next day or so, I told Noah there was a festival in Portugal happening and we needed to go. Can you manage to free yourself during this time? He then checked his calendar and told me okay we can go. No questions asked. He sensed my excitement and that it was very important for me that we could join. A few days later we organized our trip and officially booked our spot. I was very excited but little did I know what to expect.

I still struggle to find words for what we as a family experienced during this week. But I somehow will try to share our experiences.

Lack of Belonging

Me and Noah never really felt like we belonged as parents. We do a lot of things differently (proudly) but this gives us sometimes a hard time connecting with other families. Also, our day-to-day life was not fulfilling us, we felt a lack of purpose in our existence, also why we decided to leave Switzerland and our current life.

The community we dreamed of

So back to the festival. It was a dream come true. We found our people, we found our way of living, our way of parenting, and our way of existing. We found our tribe. We left Portugal with a heart full of love and gratitude. our soul is full of inspiration. It was deeply moving to witness such beautiful parents and children. We know for a fact now, that this is the type of life we want to live. The community we want our children to grow up in. We are not meant to do this alone, we are meant to support each other.

Until this festival yuma never had close contact (day to day) with other children, because he is not in daycare and is full-time home with us. It was overwhelming to see him play and learn from the other children. Especially seeing him connect and build friendships. I could tell that he was deeply inspired by all of them. Also being in nature morning till evening was so soothing for him. And let's be honest, also for us. There was little to no distraction. We were all there with each other. We were seen, we were held, were were understood.

So what did we do exactly?

These last few sentences are very heartfelt and spoken through my feelings. But I also want to give you a more pragmatic background and show you how our days were spent.

We slept in a glamping tent. Nothing fancy just 4 beds to sleep in. Each day there were activities to join, a few for only women/men, a few for children, and a few for couples. Some were focused on an educational side, some more spiritually or physically. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner were covered and the evenings were mostly spent with music and dancing. In between activities, there were still tons of things to do on the festival land. There was a beautiful lake and beach, there were animals and there was nature and it's pleasures.

Each morning Yuma woke up and couldn't wait to go outside the tent and meet all of the gatherers and start exploring the land. So we tried to do the bare minimum (go to the toilet, brush our teeth, and get dressed) and then quickly go to the main areas. We started with breakfast and discussed the activities we wanted to join. If there was nothing specific we wanted to do, we just sat somewhere on the land (mostly the beach) and let Yuma wander around, build connections, and enjoy the simplicity of things. That's it nothing wild. But the families and activities were pure bliss. Each encounter left us deeply inspired and enriched. They were all so unique but there were still a lot of things that connected all the different families. The conversations but especially the observations of all the beautiful souls were deeply moving. I never had the honor to be around this many beautiful people. And by beautiful I don't just mean their looks. I mean their spirits and because of their pure spirits, their looks were stunning.

The Power of coming together

I could go on forever and tell you how beautiful this experience was. But I think I tend to repeat myself and because of the lack of words, I'm just telling you how special this festival was. There is one thing I want to point out before I wrap this up.

During this festival, there were women's and men's circles. Again MAGICIAL! Those kinds of circles are a big necessity in our Western world. Being surrounded by mothers was immensely powerful. Feeling the power we all have in us but also the power we are capable of building together. Being touched by a woman/mother who understands in her heart the struggle of day-to-day life. The voice of a mum telling you that you are doing great and you are seen, deeply healing. The kind smile of a mother you catch during challenging scenarios, telling you that you will get through this and telling you you're not alone. We are all in this together, so why go through it all alone? I have an urgent need to bring back into my community what I experienced during those circles. Trying to hand over the knowledge I had the honor to witness. Not sure yet how though...

We are in deep gratitude towards everyone who made this gathering possible. You guys are rockstars and so many parents are endlessly grateful that this festival exists. Thank you for showing us that this village life, which so many parents are longing for, is possible. It is here to be created. A tribe is born. 🦋 we can't wait for next year. seriously counting the days!❤️

I will leave you with the links to the festival and the facilitors for you to also be enrichened:

Kind Family Gathering

---

P.S: We had immediate feedback when we came back home, that it was the right call for us to leave Switzerland and build a more sustainable life. The way our life is formed and meant to be lived within the system is a big discrepancy compared to our natural state of being.

P.P.S: My sister Yamina joined us and it was beyond beatiful to bond even closer trough this experience. Beyond grateful - thank you Yamina!