Off-grid and Ignorant in Portugal

Alastair Leithead
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  • PERSONAL JOURNALS

From Our Own Correspondent-style despatches from a former BBC reporter who's now battling to live off the grid in the Alentejo countryside. Selected audio recordings of his weekly blog which began in 2020. alastairleithead.substack.com

  1. FEB 7

    Biblical Weather

    Marta has arrived. After being battered by Ingrid, Joseph, Kristin...oh Kristin...and Leonardo, the sixth named storm of the year has done what only storm systems can do...and is “barrelling” into Portugal. There are certain words and phrases it’s hard to separate from their familiar context. Is anything else dour (pron: DOO-er) except a Scotsman? Only perhaps the weather in Scotland...which is remarkably similar to the last five weeks in Portugal. It’s just a lot warmer here and being up on a hill removes the threat of flooding. As I write, the wind is whipping up a hoolie (that’s the Scottish gale, not the Irish party), all the animals have elected to stay inside, the fire is on and we are sitting in the warm watching the weather apps, monitoring our solar battery levels and hoping nothing too important blows away. Of course, on the news, storms barrelling into the coast often cause “devastation” and in some cases “utter devastation.” It might be a trope or journalese, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. The Portuguese government described this as “devastating crisis” caused by the wave of storms – the state of emergency here has been extended and there’s talk of generational flooding...all with a presidential election taking place on Sunday. Tens of thousands of people were still without power a week after a bomb cyclone and sting jet hit Leiria which is mid-way between Lisbon and Porto quite a way north of us. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. More about those two phenomena later – and about their connection to Britain’s Great October Storm in 1987, Krakatoa, bombing raids to Japan during the Second World War, and the two policemen responsible for sending us British weather. I have organised my life very carefully around avoiding British weather for the best part of 25 years, so you can imagine my current disappointment, even if I haven’t yet needed to change out of my shorts. But we’ve been lucky here in the valley – the worst so far was the departure of a large section of protective glass from its moorings next to the pool, which somehow didn’t break in the fall. A few sections of plastic roof have been relocated and retrieved from the forest, the solar panels deep in the valley have flipped over onto the pillow tank, which have so far avoided puncture despite Daniel’s metal pumphouse roof sprouting wings and taking flight. One gigantic eucalyptus tree has been uprooted and is being desperately supported by one of its neighbouring trees, slowing its journey to the forest floor...we’re already eying that one up to make a bench. Check out journalist Jorge Branco’s latest Substack update on the storms: Many of the tall dead eucalyptus trees on our neighbour’s land that were sheltering in place amid the new growth following the fire a few years ago have taken a tumble making the wood look more like a giant game of Pick Up Sticks. Our track is a little cut up but has been worse as main roads have been blocked by falling trees and firefighting bombeiroshave been busy with their chainsaws. At least 13 people have been killed across the country. And while some communities are still without water, others have far too much. The incessant conveyor belt of extra-tropical storm systems being guided straight into the Iberian coast since the start of the year has soaked the soil, filled up the reservoirs and sent storm surges flowing up the rivers...to meet the runoff coming down. The consequences continue to be dramatic. Riverside shops and homes in Alcácer do Sal were flooded up to the first floor as the Sado River level went up two metres in 20 minutes. Memories of covering hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones and tornadoes as a foreign correspondent have come rushing back this week. The chaos in the French Quarter as Katrina hit New Orleans; the entire bowling alley flattened by a twister in Oklahoma (but with the pins in one lane somehow still standing); Manila under water; and then riskily escaping Madagascar’s east coast by helicopter just ahead of a massive storm. But with the hatches firmly battened down – and lunch plans quite literally rain checked by a downpour that will undoubtedly trap our neighbours on their land until the flash flood has risen and abated – I’ve had time ponder wordplay and meteorology and to have a deep dive into why we’re getting such a hammering this year. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. My geography degree and years of watching weather patterns in our new off-grid home, to understand when to expect trouble, were augmented with a couple of long and slightly confusing conversations with two Portuguese professors. But I think I’ve worked it out, and with advance apologies to the meteorological purists, I’m going to have a go at explaining it...on the basis that any accuracy lost in the act of simplification is all my own fault. It’s the Jet Stream. There we go. You need more? Ok... There are a number of jet streams, but the one affecting us is a fast-flowing river of air flowing west to east at around 30,000 feet (9,000m) across the Atlantic. It’s what planes fly into when going from the US to the UK to save fuel and time...and what they try to avoid on the way back. It’s created as heat from the equator flows towards the poles and is pulled east by the earth’s rotation. It speeds up where the warm air meets cold polar air. Like a river it can run fast and straight at 250mph or 400km/h, or meander more slowly making weather systems linger longer…and it can also move further north or further south. This year it’s further south, broadly bringing icy temperatures to northern Europe, the split of weather we see across North America and more storms to Iberia. The Baltic’s been, well, Baltic. The minus 34.3C in Lithuania is the lowest since 1996 and Tunisia’s had its heaviest rain in 70 years. There’s so much more I want to tell you about the Jet Stream...about how it was noticed after the 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption created an “equatorial smoke stream”; about how it slowed American bombing raids to Japan in World War Two, but at the same time sped Japanese explosive-laden hydrogen-filled paper balloons towards the US. (Fo-Go Balloon bombs were the first intercontinental weapons system and there’s a great episode of the wonderful Radiolab podcast all about it). Some blue-sky, moon shot thinkers believe it could even be a source of sustainable power generation (presumably once they work out how to keep an aerostatic wing at 30,000 feet...and get the electricity back down to earth). “They [jet streams] meander around the globe, dipping and rising in altitude/latitude, splitting at times and forming eddies, and even disappearing altogether to reappear somewhere else.” [Source: NOAA] But there’s more to discuss. The jet stream guides mid-Atlantic storms and affects where the “two policemen” direct traffic to quote Prof Carlos DaCamara from the University of Lisbon. The conveyor belt of storms are delivered between the clockwise turning Azores High (in the south) and the anticlockwise spinning Icelandic Low in the north...their position and strength also contributes to pushing six named storms into Portugal this year like on a conveyor belt. Warmer ocean temperatures and a ready source of water vapour arriving on an atmospheric river from the Caribbean...and we here in Portugal have a lot of wind and a lot of rain. Many British readers will remember the Great October Storm of 1987 which killed 18 people, felled 15m trees with gusts of 115mph...and came the night after BBC weather forecaster Michael Fish joked there wasn’t a hurricane coming. He was right – in a way – it wasn’t caused by a hurricane, but by the same phenomenon that caused all the damage in Leiria, according to Prof Pedro Miranda, also of the University of Lisbon. He explained it was years later in 2004 when Prof Keith Browning and colleagues at the University of Reading identified an intense localised wind descending from a great height where you wouldn’t normally expect it in a storm system. They dubbed it a “sting jet” after a noticeable pattern on satellite maps resembled a scorpion’s tail. They happen in “bomb cyclones” – depressions which form quickly and deepen rapidly to produce higher winds and stormier weather. The discovery helped forecasters alert people in Scotland in 2011 and 2012 and it was predicted in Portugal last week...only a bit further north than anticipated. That’s a lot to take it...and if you’ve made it this far, congratulations. There’s so much more to say, but this is neither the right time or place...I need to head up the hill soon to see what these crazy winds have done. With the rain still falling and full reservoirs starting to release water into the rivers, there’s more flooding and chaos to come in Portugal no doubt, but a break in the conveyor belt of named storms is predicted. Somehow, between squalls, our solar panels bring in plenty of power to keep our batteries well and truly topped up. But it’s time to bring on some more sunshine, a little less wind and a less cloudy dramatic view of our valleys and the mountains beyond. Our tanks and our lakes are full...it’s now time for a break in the weather. To learn more about how to visit Alastair & Ana’s eco-luxe lodge Valley of the Stars or Vale das Estrelas, visit the website where you can check availability and book your stay. They’re also running their first Wine Retreat in May with the Hutchins Wine Academy. It’s already filling up, but there are still some places available. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    12 min

  2. JAN 18

    Backing the Booze

    For a recovering news addict, the daily barrage of bad news breaks over me like the Atlantic waves on our wild west Portuguese coast. The inundation of daily briefings, updates and newsletters which arrive from the various trusted outlets from different sides of the widening political divide are a deluge to duck below, wait out and then resurface in calmer waters. Of course, the next swell is already building...it won’t be long before another crest crashes over. Take your eye off it and you’ll be washing-machined in a tumbling turmoil through the surf and delivered prostrate on the beach. The game is trying not to get washed up by this relentless surge of warmongering, right-wing rhetoric and utter indecency (mostly coming from America)...and the distasteful giving of tributes to pander to a deeply flawed king. (Really, María Corina Machado? You really think he’ll give you Venezuela now he’s styled himself as acting president). BUT...occasionally something pops up which makes riding the swell worthwhile. This week it was a nicely written piece in The Economist about how the business of wine reflects changes in society. It’s about isolation, loneliness...and the lubricating antidote which oils the wheels of social interaction. It struck a real chord because it falls in line with what we’re trying to do here: bringing interesting people together with a glass of wine, sharing a meal and a story. It reflects what we love about wine, and how it helps put storytelling at the heart of our off-grid lodge. Hopefully this link will take you to the full article, but if not, you’ll get the gist as I’ve decided to pull out some quotes, tease out a few thoughts and pick it all apart. Of course, I could have chosen mixed martial arts for my news metaphor, which for some reason I’m inundated with every time I dip into some passive doom scrolling, alongside an inundation of rugby tries, woodworking demonstrations, DIY tips and Australian dad jokes. I guess it could be a lot worse. Algorithms have become our personalised shadows following us around the metaverse like the daemons of the Philip Pulman fantasy novels and TV show His Dark Materials. But nevertheless I am slightly fascinated by the surprise flying kicks, back-handed punches and sneaky use of elbows-to-the-head in the MMA clips...yet another good allegory for world politics. Talking of inundations, we’ve been having an amazing amount of rain – the 200,000 litre rainwater tank is full to almost overflowing, the lake’s outflow stream is back and we now know exactly where to put the drainage channels in the new vineyard. Although I’m still not wearing a jumper (I am from Newcastle don’t forget), the chillier temperatures mean we can put on a lovely fire, reach for a warming Alentejo red and (with thanks to the anonymous Economist author of “Falling wine sales reflect a lonelier and more atomised world”) let the story begin... “The long, dark days can lower people’s moods” On the one hand it’s a great idea giving up booze for January, but on the other it’s a terrible time to deny yourself something nice to warm up the longer nights...especially when the act of drinking takes you to a nice cosy bar. But straight off the back of the festive season with bulging belt buckles it seems like the right thing to do (“the exhortations of do-gooders to forgo...” as the writer elegantly puts it!) Ana and I have cut back this month...but more in the realisation that running a tourism lodge around wine and joining in with every guest is going to kill us pretty quickly. I’ve never suffered from the SAD (seasonal affective disorder) short days depression, but that’s mostly because I’ve organised my life around living in places where it’s still warm and sunny most of the time. SADly alcohol sales are on the wane through a combination of a GenZers drinking a lot less (presumably as a form of revolution against the grown-ups who set such a bad example during their childhood) and the various studies citing the health detriments of booze, but the Economist interviewees say there’s more to it than that. “Wine’s decline reflects something deeper: a fraying of the social fabric that once held Western societies together.” That’s what Andrés Pérez thinks. His family runs the Alyan vineyard in Chile (which looks amazing by the way) where “Wine tasting...is more a carefully curated social event than a lesson in tannins.” I said exactly the same thing presenting this week’s wine story-tasting for 43 people...well, perhaps not quite as eloquently or directly, but it’s what I meant... it’s less about fancy language and more about enjoying what you like. Yes, you read it correctly, wine tasting...for 43...that was a first! We had a fantastic group staying on their corporate retreat, or ‘off-site’ as we’ve learned is the new word for it. In collaboration with nearby yoga centre Orada (and with huge thanks to David for asking us to be involved), we hosted the Verto Eduction management team for the week. Our solar system once again brilliantly navigated a full house despite the rain as the study abroad programme staff gathered from all over the world and cosied up in the Clubhouse to hear a little Portuguese history through wine. We treated them to our favourite Vicentino white blend, a Gerações de Talha introduction to Alentejo’s amphora wine world, some Esporão Reserva 2022 and Mouchão’s stunning 2017 Alicante Bouschet. Alyan apparently “once offered hour-long tasting sessions. Now they last four. By the end of the visit, strangers are swapping numbers and shaking hands.” While I didn’t bang on about Alentejo wine for four hours the volume of conversation certainly increased as we ticked off the wines. “Anthropologists see the decline in communal eating as part of a broader social unravelling.” We’ve loved hosting a family-style meal around a long table on the terrace when we’ve had the time in this first year of being open. (Running this place is sometimes a bit like the Trump presidency...it feels like a lot longer, but it still hasn’t been a full year!) It’s been great to bring people together over a fish braai or some grilled black pork with lashings of Alentejo wine – ideally from a flagon – to get the conversations going. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it. “People across the rich world increasingly live, and eat, alone. As a result, more people now eat and unwind in front of screens.” Now that’s an easy one, We encourage guests to the valley to let their phones have a holiday too: to switch off and take it easy...ideally from the comfort of a locked box (the phones, not the guests). Phil Davies – friend and BBC cameraman from Nairobi always swore we needed to go on safari at least once every six weeks to give our eye muscles a workout. After all the close up reading we do in front of screens, he argued, we periodically need to scan a distant horizon to maintain the flexibility to switch to long vision. It’s also great while on safari with friends to be practiced enough to know the difference between a lion and a rock that looks like a lion at 400m. Our views are vast, there’s a old windmill on a hill to focus on and we do have a few rocks that look like Iberian lynx...and of course a big library of books and shelves of games for quiet days. But of course off-grid doesn’t mean always offline as there’s a need to keep in touch. “Generation Z...drink differently, increasingly seeking out quality and novelty.” Tick. Of the 350 different grapes grown in Portugal, 250 are indigenous. And nothing says wine novelty more than Antão Vaz and Arinto, Trincadeira, Tinta Miúda and the two Touriga’s (Nacional and Franca). Quality and novelty are a draw with young drinkers on the basis that the reason the hipster burnt their mouth on coffee was because they wanted to drink it before it was cool (buh-buhm-tshing). Alentejo is of course home to the original natural wine – talha, or amphora wine made the way the Romans made it...and made that way in a few places ever since. And it’s perhaps the main reason our lower, or Baixo Alentejo, has been awarded European city of wine for 2026. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. “For some people, drinking is an isolating addiction. But for most it is a social indulgence. And that, increasingly, is what people are missing.” I’ve always loved a bit of social indulging. I have been known to socially overindulge, but only occasionally. And that’s the inspiration around a few of the things we’re planning for this year. The main one is the Wine Retreat we’re doing with the Hutchins Wine Academy in May...people are signing up for that already and it’ll be a lot of fun…there are still places left, so join us! Seventy wines, some amazing meals and winery adventures and you leave it tasting wine like a sommelier! Our Detox/Retox days of exercise then alcohol are perfect for February and March when the shoulder devils and angels both get their way...on the same day. And that plan to run a regular open house wine tasting every Friday is taking a step closer to becoming a thing. We might even host something fun on Sunday February 1st...a sort of goodbye dry and welcome back wet rest-of-the-year...let us know if you’re interested. The EU is providing “funds to uproot grapevines in order to reduce the bloc’s wine glut.” Of course they are. So obviously we’re planting half a hectare while everyone’s getting money for pulling it up. Speaking of which, I really must get my wellies on, take to the field and start counting up how many plants we need...I don’t trust my geometry (or ChatGPT’s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subsc

    12 min

  3. 12/21/2025

    Happy Holidays!

    One of the great things about being married to a Portuguese Swede is also one of the great things about being an only child: it really pays off at Christmas. As a kid I was the spoilt brat with no brothers or sisters to share the gift space on Santa’s sleigh; and as a grown-up I get to celebrate twice...or some might argue, three times. Since Ana and I met, Christmas has officially begun on December 24th with a julbord of pickled herring and smoked salmon, glazed ham, meatballs with red cabbage and potato bake, special seasonal dark bread and crispbread wheels of Vörtbröd alongside cheese...to make sure nobody goes hungry. It’s all finished off by saffron buns and gingerbread...and washed down with lashings of glögg mulled wine, laced with spices (and vodka). Tack. Then to continue the excess, the 25th kicks in with turkey and all the trimmings, sweet mince pies and a Christmas cake which spent the first few months of its life soaked in brandy. And, of course, British celebrations come with the bonus of Boxing Day for turkey and all the trimmings (round two) fried up in a bubble & squeak and then a thick soup to make sure we don’t go near a turkey for another year. Musical Odemira: it was great to see the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra play at the opening concert of the Estação das Artes in Santa Clara/Sabóia presented by Miso Music Portugal This was part of a fantastic medley of Christmas songs (hence the hats!) - great to have such an amazing performance in our region Where I still love the Christmas specials on British TV and the King’s Speech, Ana loves the decades-long Swedish tradition of watching Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul (From All of Us to All of You) - an animated best-of-Disney special which was first shown in 1958 and they’ve been watching it at Christmas in Sweden pretty much every year since. But with us still knee-deep in learning marketing (as I mentioned last time) and the occasional guests to attend to...and with it being just the two of us for Christmas this year we’ve cut down on the decorations and the inevitable food mountain. All those Swedish and British specialities are bad enough when shared with a dozen people, let alone just us and the animals...even though the animals might disagree. Normally we go Christmas-crazy...imagine an explosion in a tinsel and fairy-light factory. But having lost so many old and treasured glass baubles to the wrong kind of Christmas tree harvested from our own land with their non-stick branches we’ve decided to go tree and tinsel free this year. The nearest we get to a white Christmas here is fields swathed in daisies after the autumn rain, and although the weather’s not as unseasonally strange as a southern hemisphere December (Joburg also celebrates Xmas in July don’t you know), we’re still enjoying temperatures in the mid-teens Celsius by day, and not much less than 6C by night. It did feel a little more Christmassy in Lisbon this week. We had a little end-of-year business to do with our amazing accountant Madalena, talking all things wine with our friend Mauro, and recording a radio story I’m doing on Portugal’s wooden house revolution. And we were also invited to a fabulous event organised by Stephen O’Regan and his People of Lisbon...at André Pinguel’s secret wine & dinner club Flores. An amazing gang of interesting people gathered – including magician Magic Douglas and the famous performer Lamb Chop...assisted by ventriloquist Mallory Lewis (daughter of Shari Lewis who created Lamb Chop in the 1950s!). We visited a few Christmas markets, discovered another of the old-school amazing bars in the Pavilhão Chinês family, and took Simon the dog to all his favourite places including the Jardim da Estrela where he picks up his Lisbon pee-mail. Garfunkel remains less convinced by the big city. The only two safe spaces in town for the big dog are our flat in Estrela and “The Big Red Box of Freedom” (Cassie the Hilux) which he knows is the only way back to his monte in Alentejo. We visited a couple of our favourite old-style Portuguese lunch and dinner places and treated ourselves to a few fun desserts. And it’s been a good week for Portugal on quite a few end-of-year measures which are usually published this time of year. Not only did TasteAtlas name Pastéis de Belém the best “sweet pastry” in the world, it also awarded it third place along with all the other pastel de nata makers in Portugal. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. I do love a Pastel de Nata – and we certainly consider the ones from Belém in Lisbon the original and the best. And in the cake category – it was a straight one/two for Ana with both her countries taking top honours. In second place was the Swedish rich chocolate cake kladdkaka which our daughter Oda has mastered. First place in the cake charts went to Pão de Ló – a famous creamy egg-yolky sponge cake which I had never heard of...let alone tried...until just this week when our winemaking friend Mauro gave us one for Christmas. He also handed over another car-load of his own fantastic Castelão red wine and some wax for us to put Vale das Estrelas labels on and seal ready for the year ahead. We also tried a white wine – an Arinto – which he thinks could be a good one for us to stock...or perhaps a white blend he’s still perfecting...so we can have a Vale das Estrelas red and white wine next year. The only problem is we need a label...are there any artists we know out there? (I’m thinking of you Ed Sumner and the Cheese & Wine Painting Club!) Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it. And speaking of cheese, TasteAtlas awards Portugal the world’s third best cheese, with its Queijo de Azeitão semi-soft sheep’s cheese from just up our coast in Setúbal. Portugal also claimed top spot in the Economist’s end of year measure of which economy did best in 2025. Topping Spain’s performance to take last year’s honour, the magazine praised Portugal’s “strong GDP growth, low inflation and a buoyant stockmarket.” And there has been some good news in terms of big investment coming to the country, and some great news as far as we’re concerned – with tourism heading for a record €30bn year. There are two sides to the story of course – although the government announced the minimum wage would be increased by €50 next year, it only takes it to €920 a month. It goes some way to explain why it might be the best performing economy, but again in the Economist, it’s only in 40thplace for living standards. And the European Commission estimated house prices are overvalued in Portugal by more than 25% which is contributing to a lack of affordable housing here. All figures which make my story on the rise of the wooden, modular house in Portugal even more relevant...I’ll let you know when it’s out. But for now...all the very best for the holiday and the year ahead...and don’t forget the reader’s discount code when you book to come and see us (XMAS25 )...and our first wine retreat in partnership with the Hutchins Wine Academy in May. We hope to see you here in 2026! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    9 min

  4. 12/07/2025

    Marketing 101

    We have already learned a lot of new jobs in this new career path, and for the past two weeks we’ve been trying to learn another one: marketing. Having just about got to grips with off-grid living (first basic, then advanced level), building site project management, landscaping, interior design (Ana, definitely not me), accounting and basic small-hotelier-ing...we’ve reached the next rung on the career ladder. We built it and they came – in the summer – and now we have to keep them coming back in the quieter seasons too, telling their friends to visit, and drumming up some new business on the basis this is a remarkable place we were very lucky to find. For now we have to do what we can until Adelin arrives – a Swedish communications undergraduate (and Oda’s cousin) who is doing a work placement with us early next year to take control of our social media and play the algorithms at their own game. Until then, we are diving into the world of pricing structures, discount deals, combination packages of rooms and meals...and retreats. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it. We’ve been emailing travel agents, contacting friends of friends who are retreat leaders and working out how to use our website properly...including all the data and marketing information it can provide us. And, dear reader, we do have a couple of things coming up which might be of interest...primarily an introduction to wine by a sommelier, marketing exec and author – our friend Joanna, whose Hutchins Wine Academy is hosting its first wine immersion course at our place in May. She has a coveted Wine & Sprit Educational Trust diploma and is a qualified wine educator…we’re going to have a lot of fun with this in May 2026. First come, first served! Check it out...it’d make a great Christmas present! (see, I’m learning!). I had always considered myself to be quite entrepreneurial while working at the BBC – in selling stories to my editors in the competitive world of limited money and airtime. I’d often get extremely excited about a particular idea and go all-in to sell it hard – often to different TV and radio programmes and online outlets to scramble together enough cash pledges to afford the trip. I didn’t always succeed, but did get a big safari series commissioned in Africa and managed to secure a not insubstantial amount of cash for an ambitious six-week trip on the Congo River filming in Virtual Reality and recording binaural sound. (I still love the fact that in the world of short attention spans and “you’ve got to grab them in the first 5 seconds” our 45min TV doc on the DR Congo on YouTube has more than 20m views!). Having sold the story, our team then had to deliver it...and that often took even more effort to make things happen with a limited time and budget in difficult places. As British military officers in Afghanistan often told me: “no plan survives first contact [with the enemy].” I’ve discovered there are at least a few transferrable skills from journalist to small business co-founder, but dogged determination and bloody-mindedness stand out as perhaps the most useful. Accounting comes into it too: I would often have to keep up with long lists of expenses in a range of random currencies while on assignment. Thankfully the amazing producers I worked with were very good at that...as well as all the other things they don’t get the on-air recognition for, such as securing access and interviews, editing, and managing the “flesh puppets”...annoying correspondents like yours truly. There were times when I had to manage big-ish budgets and I understand why one fellow journalist, on discovering a receipt for $50 was missing, attempted some creative writing while on a flight out of a Middle Eastern war zone. Sadly, the ploy of copying some random Arabic script for a hastily scribbled receipt was uncovered by an Arabic-reading accountant back at head office who queried the $50 claim for a “Your lifejacket is under your seat.” Special Offer for all readers: * 15% off for stays at Vale das Estrelas for all blog readers * Valid between now an April 1st (no joke) * Book before the end of January * Use code: XMAS25 on our booking site Having just logged one thousand receipts and more than two hundred invoices for 2025 in this latest accounting job, I think I’m doing OK, but the “sell, sell, sell” mantra of marketeers isn’t as straightforward. For a start there’s the barrage of self-declared influencers looking for a freebie to navigate: “we’d need at least three nights to truly capture the essence of your lodge,” one wrote. There are so many travel sites out there who for a reasonable annual fee will feature our property on their website...but we can’t justify signing up to all of them and it’s a bit of a lottery. We’re happy to be working with Sawday’s and Further Afield, and hope to have more collaborations in fitting with our ethos of sustainability. I’ve been writing a column for the Resident magazine (formerly known as the Portugal Resident) for a while now and they’ve just started a new podcast. I was delighted to chat to Carl Munson about our story. With all the disruption going on in the world – not least in the USA – I’ve done a few interviews telling the story of our dramatic decision to change lives before 50, give up our jobs and retrain in lots of new ones…and hopefully that will bring a few extra guests to our door! Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. The price of promoting things on social media seems to be going up all the time, and we need to learn how to target audiences better, but that all takes time. We were delighted to be invited to donate a luxury two night package to the Sovereign Art Foundation’s annual Gala auction – and even more excited about being invited along to the event. We were pleased to see it was a very competitive auction and we’re looking forward to welcoming the winners in May! As well as working on making posts and programmes, we’re also learning about how to measure what’s going on through data. I’ve written before about the challenges of managing Booking.com, AirBnB, Expedia and our own direct-booking website...and I’m only now starting to understand how they undercut prices and also pay us a lot less after taking their cut. I’ve also mentioned the desire to host more “retreats” – package trips for groups based around yoga, or painting, or reading (or wine!), corporate get-togethers that are now known as “off-sites” apparently. Even Better Offer for our Pioneers: * If you are one of Our Pioneers and have stayed with us before, we’ll give you and your friends an even better discount * Book before the end of January * Valid throughout 2026 as long as the rooms are available! * Drop us a line and we’ll send you the secret promotional code. The title “retreat” does conjure up the idea of 5am yoga sessions, cleansing shakes and a large amount of wellness. We’ve joked for years about how rather than detox, RE-tox is perhaps a better fit for us: the Retoxification Institute of Portugal, perhaps, or R-I-P for short. At our daughter Oda’s suggestion I can officially confirm we are starting a Detox/Retox package for those who like a balanced diet of healthy morning activities, followed by plenty of wine and a fabulous meal to finish: Detox, Retox, Rinse and Repeat. Would you buy one? Do let us know. We’ve already learned about the seasonal nature of tourism on this coast, and it’s certainly quieter in December. But apparently it’s not just us: for real data you need to speak to the cheesemaker. Queijaria do Mira receives real data from real people in real time…and knows when occupancy rates are down...because they know exactly how much cheese the tourist lodges are buying. Low cheese sales mean low occupancy. Blessed be the cheesemaker and her buying barometer. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    9 min

  5. 11/23/2025

    Storm Surge

    On the rare occasion the entire Portuguese power grid goes down for a few hours we are positively smug, but the other side of the coin is keeping everything running when a big storm hits. And all of us on the western edge of Europe have had some kind of encounter with Storm Claudia (as Spanish meteorologists named her) over the past week or so. As any household relying on nothing but solar power will know, there’s only one drawback to having 300 days a year of sunshine in Portugal – and that’s the other 65 or so without. When we first moved into the Valley of the Stars we very quickly learned which power-hungry luxuries to save for the sunshine. For example, one never makes toast while blow drying the dog (not that one would necessarily ever want to...I rarely eat toast). Relying completely on renewable power means learning how to carefully monitor exactly what is being used where, and deciding on contingencies as each cloudy or stormy day arrives. And as we have increased the number of buildings, guests, pumps and water treatment units, the more power you use and the greater the need for planning and backups. We sort of fell into the off-grid thing without really thinking about it and looked into the figures for connecting to the Portuguese grid when we were planning our construction. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. It turned out the combination of inverters, pylons and cables was going to cost almost the same as a brand spanking new solar set up. So our decision to go the sustainable route was aided by the idea of having one very large electricity bill at the beginning and free power after that. Having dodged the late October storm courtesy of a big mountain getting in the way, we were battered by Storm Claudia like everyone else. Anything coming up towards us here from the south tends to hit the mountains of Monchique and Fóia peak first, leaving us in the rain shadow. The apps often predict we’ll get many millimetres, but weather from the Algarve usually ends up dropping far less rain on us than the apps predict. Of course in dry times that works against us, rule one is “never complain about the rain,” however much there is, because we depend upon it to fill our lake and our giant 200,000 litre pillow tank for mixing into drinking water. Thankfully there were no tornados to report like the one which Claudia brought to the Algarve, but as always, the first big storm of the autumn helps us switch back into ‘winter mode’ of carefully monitoring all our energy consumption...and keeping an eye on the weather. There’s a lot more at stake than knowing whether or not to take our brolly, or if I should make the move from shorts and sandals to trousers and sensible shoes (I believe that time has now come for this year...but that’s not bad given it’s nearly December). As far as weather forecasts, most predictions for our valley are at very best only half correct, and so I channel my inner weatherman, hark back to my Geography degree and start muttering about cold fronts and barometric pressure. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it. Our favourite weather forecasting apps are Weather Underground and Ventusky which provide us with a broad outline, real time radar and some big-picture predictions as the various models plot expected rainfall and front movements by the hour. Our friend Niels – who has sailed around the world and records climatic data in his vineyard – put us on to Ventusky and also introduced us to Weather Watcher on YouTube, which gives great regular summaries of Europe for the committed weather nerd. After five years I am starting to learn some patterns, but it’s tough with everything becoming more unpredictable and extreme thanks to global warming. Storm Claudia was a tricky one – she hung around a lot longer than the average storm thanks to being sandwiched between two areas of high pressure in the Atlantic and over mainland Europe. And she also had a nasty habit of bringing rain all day, and then clearing all night – perfect for star gazing but not great for our solar system. I’m not sure of the science behind it, but we usually get more rain overnight and at least a little sunshine during each day...and thankfully we don’t need much to boost our batteries and regenerate our confidence. When designing off-grid systems, Solar Iain told us there’s no limit to how much power we can generate and store, it’s just a matter of how much we are prepared to invest. After estimating how much energy 22 people might use and expecting expansion we built a system that is way bigger than we need for most of the year. We swan through summers barely looking at the solar read-out, blessed as we are by enough solar panels to happily ensure the batteries are full every day before breakfast is over – despite the pumps, the power use and all the people. And even when the days get shorter, we have confidence in our 84 solar panels which still bring in power when it’s overcast. But when a storm hits and the clouds persist, we really earn our keep as an off-grid resort. That is when power monitoring becomes an obsession. Our first port of call is the Victron app on our phones which immediately shows us how much power is coming in and how much is being used on each of our three phases. Battery percentages are notoriously inaccurate, but we’ve found voltage level to be the best measure keeping everything going – once it drops to 48V the power goes off. The key is staying above 50V – something easily achievable with some tight management and a backup generator. Going the next level down to monitor individual buildings and pump houses took a fair bit of research, but we went for Emporia Energy from the US. The sensors clip around cables to measure how much electricity is moving through them. Sadly, some cost-cutting by our electrician left far too many things crammed into one small box...confusing even him. He grumpily clipped on the monitors and even managed to wedge the box shut, but at one point the car charger circuit was using the most power, which is confusing as we don’t have a car charger yet. Having switched the labels around we now get a pretty good idea of what’s going on, even if I need a few more hubs from the US to give us the full picture. Now I’m ordering some internet-connected switches to save me running up the hill and turning things off manually in the rain. Despite the days of rain we stayed well out of the danger zone, and as we watched the sun rise and its rays start reaching our panels...despite the forecasts...our overall outlook became even brighter. The first test is always the toughest as we tweak our pumps and get back into our power-saving routines, but once again our system passed with flying colours. Speaking of flying colours we’d love to find a decent but affordable wind turbine which can integrate into our Victron solar system...anyone with recommendations, please get in touch! With the batteries filling up fast, our trip to Vila de Frades and Vidigueira for the talha opening celebration weekend was back on. Driving into the interior Alentejo the skies cleared in front of us, the storm headed off into Spain and we entered an adega packed full of some of the most exciting wines and interesting winemakers It was Simon the dog’s 98th birthday (14 human years x 7) and if I ever make it to his age I’d be more than happy with a day like it: McDonalds lunch, a load of excellent wine, a huge amount of attention and a late night dance party to finish. We’ve got the power. And now the storm has passed we’re enjoying crisp cold nights and beautifully clear sunny days with bright blue skies...and yes, I am still wearing the shorts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    9 min

  6. 11/09/2025

    Elephants to Alentejo

    It’s more than 30,000 years since elephants last wandered the rolling landscape of Portugal’s Alentejo, but that’s all about to change. The last known tracks the pachyderms left behind are a series of fossilised footprints discovered here on our wild west coast of Alentejo. Not long after their steps in the sand were frozen in time, the giant, straight-tusked elephants were extinct. It wasn’t until 218BC that they returned – when Hannibal of Carthage shipped a North African herd to the Iberian peninsula and marched them over the Alps to the edge of Rome. Now they’re coming back to inland Alentejo, and this week I was lucky enough to have a guided tour around their new home. “It reminds me very much of Zambia,” Kate Moore told me as we drove onto the 400ha of land which will soon be Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary. “It’s a really beautiful site. It used to be a cattle farm and a eucalyptus plantation, and we’ve spent the last one or two years basically trying to restore the biodiversity on site to get ready for elephants.” Kate Moore, who spent years working in conservation in Malawi, is managing director of the UK conservation charity Pangea which has spent years scouring Europe for the right site (and whose video footage I’ve attached above). “We did a feasibility study looking at all the different landscapes, honed in on the Iberian peninsula mainly because of the habitats, looked at hundreds of properties and finally shortlisted and got down to this one. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it. “Gentle, rolling hills, lots and lots of water, good diverse habitat, and also privacy,” were the reasons they chose the site which straddles the two municipalities of Vila Viçosa and Alandroal just south of Estremoz. But this isn’t a safari park, or a large zoo – it will be a sanctuary for elephants to retire after spending their lives in the circus or in zoos around Europe. “Our first elephant is confirmed as an elephant from Belgium – she’s called Kariba – she was wild-caught in Zimbabwe 40 years ago, she was shipped off to Germany and has spent the last 40 years in zoos in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.” And as most EU states have banned circus elephants, and zoos are planning to give them up voluntarily, they need somewhere to go. Pangea will have space for 20 to 30 elephants, and they are preparing to receive Kariba early next year. A large shed for the elephants to take shelter from the summer heat and the chill of winter is almost finished and holes were being dug for the last sections of giant metal tube fencing – think Jurassic Park. “Basically it’s ready to receive the first elephants,” said Graça Fonseca, a board member at Pangea and a former Portuguese minister of culture. “First because it’s really a foreign investment that comes to Portugal not for tourism, but for a project that’s about conservation. “It’s about our connection with the land and the connection between humans and animals and I think that’s why it’s special and will put Portugal on the map.” It’s certainly got people talking in the local coffee shop. Graça Fonseca told the story of an early visit when the shop owner asked “are you the people bringing the elephants?” and she was delighted to hear they were, as none of her customers would believe her when she told them the animals were moving in nearby. The plan is to have open days for schools and the local community, and to create a discovery centre nearby to raise awareness about elephants and their habitat. “The most important thing...is giving them as much space we can give them in as natural a habitat as possible and all about giving them autonomy and freedom to choice, but it’s really important they get expert care,” Kate Moore told me. The Mayor of Alandroal, João Grilo, is a teacher and welcomes the educational opportunity it brings, but he also hopes the project will bring new life to a poor rural area. “I think it’s very important because we are giving an example of conservation and restoration of natural environments,” he said. “If we find ways that people could live here, build their life projects and still preserve the natural environment and create jobs that’s a great way we can do it.” The sanctuary is being paid for by large donations from individuals as well as grants from trusts and foundations. Pangea is also a registered non-profit organisation in Portugal…just saying for those people out there looking to get a golden visa... Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. One of Pangea’s ambassadors is the famous Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos who created a huge colourful woven blanket for the launch of the sanctuary. There’s been a huge rush of interest from the Portuguese media this week at the thought of elephants silhouetted on an Alentejo landscape, reminiscent of the African savannah but with the characteristic flat-topped acacia trees replaced by cork oaks. After years spent making films and telling stories about elephants across Africa it’s nice to have a story like this come to my new home. This one is about poaching arriving in Botswana – and it got me into a lot of trouble with the then-president. And here’s a piece from back in the day when the BBC was happy to pay money for these types of big impact stories: This is the TV documentary version. Each elephant which will retire to Portugal will have a traumatic back story shrouded in crime, corruption and the pursuit of ivory. I’m looking forward to telling more of their tales as the Pangea sanctuary takes shape. “They’re going to love it here,” Kate Moore believes. Into the Alentejo… It was a six hour round trip to Vila Viçosa for the journey to the elephant sanctuary, and despite my iPhone going flat and having no charger I was still back in time for Portuguese class at the local school (if a little late). Alentejo covers a third of Portugal and there’s so much to see inland...from impressive castles, monasteries, vineyards...and soon elephants. Next weekend we’ll be heading back to Vila de Frades – Friars’ Town – for the annual opening of the talhas, or amphora wines…I’ll let you know how it goes. Traditional Cante Alentejano singing, local meats & cheeses and wine straight from the clay is the order of St Martin’s Day – November 11th – when the vinho starts to flow. I’ve written a couple of pieces in the past about this time of year – this is the history of St Martin and the various autumn traditions across Europe… And this is the great tale of former diamond miner turned winemaker Teresa Caeiro, of Vila de Frades and the Geraçoẽs de Talha winery where she grew up…and the audio version from our podcast Ana & Al’s Big Portuguese Wine Adventure - you can start listening to episode 1 here or wherever you usually get your podcasts. And Finally… It may be November, but we’ve been enjoying a bit of St Martin’s Summer and ocean currents from the south have made the water the warmest it’s been all year. We’ve been hosting a yoga retreat this weekend and they’ve been treated to some amazing morning mists over the valley. We’re talking to retreat leaders and wedding planners, so if you’re looking for a venue do get in touch. * Please come and see us - we’ve extended our discount for readers booking a room or apartment to stay in November and early December (with the code BLOG25). Book here. * AND…we will also be open for a cozy Christmas and New Year when it’s sunny during the day and cold enough at night to justify an open fire! Should be fun. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    8 min

  7. 10/26/2025

    Paint & porn stars

    In the voyage of discovery that is making it up as you go along, our little late-summer lull didn’t last very long. I last wrote about us suddenly realising it was September with the brief moment we had to reflect on our first summer season as small-hoteliers. In retrospect I can put an exact date on that lull: Thursday September 11th – our first night without guests since the rollercoaster ride pushed out of the stalls in July – and the only night we’ve had to ourselves since then! Presumably, real people who plan, design and build eco-luxe lodges have a pretty clear idea before they start as to who will come and visit. We hedged our bets by building a few apartments and handful of en-suite rooms, but also a communal Clubhouse space for events and meals. It was about variety – appealing to different people with different needs – big families spending a week or two together, couples wanting a get-away and ‘retreats’ where some people like to share and others prefer their own space. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. And somehow amid the naivety of the “build it and they’ll come” business plan, we’ve continued to have an amazing mixture of fun and fascinating people finding us. Some spot our little lodge on Google maps, some ask ChatGPT (which for some reason seems to like recommending us) and others see the reviews generous people have been leaving and look us up. Of course it’s been an easier sell during the guaranteed sunshine of a Portuguese summer, when beaches beckon and the pool is the perfect antidote to some time on a sun-lounger. Like any double-speed investment ad disclaimer, temperatures here can go up and down; rain does sometimes fall in Portugal (thankfully); and 300 days with sunshine does mean an average of at least 65 days without. But there aren’t many places left in Europe quite as wild and untouched as our southwestern coast of Alentejo – and not many places like ours in the area. It’s still the beauty of the landscape, the seascapes, the clifftop coastal paths, the star-scape by night...and the simple silence which are the top attractions. Whether a glass of rosé with the pink tint of a reflected sunset, a morning run through the mysterious mist and an encounter with a large stag (yes, that happened to our guests this week) or with the dramatic clouds of an impending Atlantic storm, it’s always special. It’s inspired us to plan for future expansion already and apply for an innovation and sustainability grant, set up to support young and small businesses like ours in our region. Our architect has designed some additional apartments which can be built elsewhere and lifted into place to avoid us returning to the bad-old building site days. Here’s the plan: But until people realise what they’re missing out on and discover what we fell in love with here, they need a reason to come and visit. And that’s what brings us to the paint and the porn-stars… It had been on the calendar for months...a colourful little block of days closed for new bookings labelled “Art Retreat.” It was our first multiple-day, full-board retreat in the Valley of the Stars, and we had a full house of amateur painters. The group were mostly from the UK and were members of my old pal Ed Sumner’s Cheese & Wine Painting Club. We knew a four-day full-on retreat would be tough with all 17 guests needing breakfast, lunch, dinner...and drinks every day. And with just us and our first employee Krishna, we asked our daughter Oda to fly back from LA, after her heroic six-week stint in the summer had helped us get through the hectic schedule of bookings. Ed started his painting club in London a few years ago – running events in pubs where he’d teach basic techniques by showing would-be artists how to paint their own master. Copying a Constable, making a Monet or having a go at a Van Gogh was a great way in for many folk. But during the pandemic when Ed’s Yorkshire lilt helped hundreds of people keep connected to the outside world...by joining his online painting classes. Friendships formed over WhatsApp and Zoom and it helped a lot of people through the loneliness of lockdown. That’s why some of those gathering in Vale das Estrelas had only met fellow club members online, so it was their first chance to meet in person. There was also a last minute appearance from an American couple Craig and Betty who’d read about the retreat and signed up a couple of weeks before. Craig writes the Pat the Expat column in the Portugal Resident magazine (where I also do a version of this blog once a month) and thought it might make a fun place to explore while Betty did the painting. The Cheese & Wine Painting Club crowd enjoyed the food and the wine as much as the painting classes, as they tucked into Ana’s amazing and endless repertoire of local specialities, sampled some of Alentejo’s finest wines and worked their way through Oda’s cocktail menu. Many hadn’t tried bochechas (pig cheeks) or arroz de pato (duck rice) before. They loved the flame grilled dourada, their beach picnic, and Ana’s Asian twist on Portuguese bifanas thanks to an amazing chef and super sous chef Oda. Oda cut her teeth as a bartender in the fancy rooftop terraces of Los Angeles and “If we have it, I can make it,” her whiteboard boasted, above a list of suggested cocktails to which someone added “Porn Star Martinis.” Apparently a core of club members have meet-ups in the UK and Porn Star Martinis have become a tradition. Not in her usual repertoire, the special request sparked the search for passion fruit liqueur and vanilla vodka in remote, rural Odemira. Maracuja (passion fruit) booze was easier to find than expected, not so much vanilla vodka, but with a little magical syrup-making Oda transformed the Valley of the Bars into the Valley of the Porn Star Martinis. The group were from a fantastic range of backgrounds and included an actor, a dentist, an author and an astronomer; a moth and butterfly expert who educated us all; and a nurse (whose skills were only required once or twice). They set up on the calçada deck outside our Clubhouse and painted the view we fell in love with when we first found this spot in 2018. They sketched the surf from the comfort of Bar de Praia in Almograve, inspired by the sun, the sand...and the strawberry daiquiris. They learned a bit of history through one of our wine story-tastings and met the French/British couple behind the delectable new Delância wine – with a fabulous artistic and colourful label with a story to match. They all seemed to love their stay, and for us it was a great lesson in how to prepare the meals, run the logistics and understand where to bring in extra staff next time. Speaking of next time... anyone fancy another painting retreat in April 2026?? Speaking of next time... anyone fancy another painting retreat in April 2026?? It also taught us that group getaways are certainly the way we’d like to go as it can all be planned and organised well ahead of time. We have our first yoga group coming in a couple of weeks, a big corporate retreat in January – a collaboration with the fantastic nearby Orada retreat centre and were recently visited by an Ayurvedic retreat leader looking to run training classes in Portugal. And it seems a lot of all sort of people like the idea of a few days away in the beauty and silence of places like Alentejo...without necessarily the need for 6am exercise classes. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it - especially if you know retreat leaders!! Just this morning I saw an article in The Times about Reading Retreats (paywall) – retreats where you just read and relax...reading retreat leaders look no further! With the clocks going back and the nights closing in, we’ll certainly be reaching for a good book this winter, and hope we can lure a few of you to join us. And in case you needed any more persuasion, we’re still offering a 15% discount for all stays through November with the code BLOG25 when you book here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    9 min

  8. 09/14/2025

    Coming up for Air

    So that’s what they mean by the silly season...how did it suddenly become September? It’s been both exhilarating and exhausting, but we couldn’t have asked for a better summer start to the latest stage of our off-grid Portuguese adventure. And this week we enjoyed something which a few months ago would have been utterly terrifying in the face of an rapidly expanding overdraft...a night with no guests. As the kids started to drift back to school and the summer holidays started slowly coming to an end, a gap in our arrivals calendar allowed us the luxury of coming up for air, getting some rest, and starting to think beyond the next breakfast, lunch, dinner (or all three...on the same day). We ended the summer with a flourish...dinner for 16, wine tasting for 12, a short but first proper retreat and then a very welcome little lull. Somehow – for two months – we’ve kept the treadmill of arrivals and departures going without too many mess-ups or laundry-lacking panics. Our personal washing production line is tested enough by all the towels, so we outsource our sheets to a fabulous laundrette half an hour’s drive away in Vila Nova de Milfontes. Only once amid the madness did we reach for the iron, despite having bought three times more sheets than we needed, and thankfully we were just four pillow cases short before the overworked launderers saved our skins. Some would call it bad planning, we call it learning by doing: we set out at the start of the summer with a ‘bring-it-on’ attitude to running an eco-luxe lodge. In June we didn’t even know if anyone would come, let alone test our laundry logistics. Even with the wonderful Oda spending six weeks helping us through our first season – crafting cocktails, clinking wine glasses and making meals – it’s been a blur of guests, welcome tours, beach and restaurant advice and many, many lovely people. We have the best guests hands down and haven’t had a bad one yet...and the great reviews continue to flow in. Krishna has been cleaning like a demon, turning around rooms in a few short hours to keep all the people coming and going. We now understand what tourist season means: everybody working in the bars, the restaurants and the tourist lodges of Odemira is absolutely exhausted. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! This post is public so feel free to share it. Some places have closed already, either to take some late summer sunshine themselves, or to sit in a quiet, darkened room with a stash of sedatives. Others are powering on...knowing it’ll be quieter in the off-season and sprinting towards the finishing line. But as the families are returning home from the beaches, the walkers hiking the Rota Vicentina long-distance foothpath are back in force...extending the season well into the winter and with it the workload. We always planned to be open for much of the year – that’s why we installed underfloor heating – but didn’t expect the clifftop trail and the historic inland path which cuts through the bottom of our valley to bring so many more visitors to the area. Now we have the time to properly promote our three night stays for the walkers looking for a little more luxury: a daily, backpack-free hike followed by a dip in the pool, a slap up dinner, a new wine each evening and a hearty breakfast to set them up for the next day. We’re also getting all the logistics in place for our painting retreat with Ed Sumner at the beginning of October. The paint and the canvases has arrived, the winemakers are ready and from the WhatsApp group, the attendees appear to be getting excited! We’ve have had a cancellation...so there is space for one more person (or two people sharing) to join...please get in touch...here’s the info: it starts on October 3rd. Suddenly the sun is setting earlier, the mornings and evenings are that little bit cooler and we even had some rain last week. It was very much welcomed by the plants who’ve suffered from my only occasional irrigational interventions, and I was so out of touch that the remnants of Hurricane Erin took me totally by surprise. Thanks for reading Off-grid and Entertaining in Portugal! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Guests had been mentioning how the red beach flags had been flying and the ocean was in turmoil, but even the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina didn’t draw my usually weather-curious eye to the satellite images. As I was being interviewed on BBC Radio 5Live recalling memories of reporting on the storm hitting New Orleans (on BBC Sounds here at 1.39’00”), I was utterly unaware that one of the largest hurricanes ever recorded was churning around the Atlantic, flooding New Jersey and moving Iberian beaches. Only in the last few days have I realised just how much sand has moved and changed the shape and flow of our favourite beaches as it usually does only in the Spring. Thankfully Erin didn’t make landfall – but its last band of rain which hit the UK and barely clipped our coast gave me a little reminder that the long summer days of endless solar power are coming to an end. It robbed us of a clear lunar eclipse (although day 2 of the blood moon was still pretty special), but more importantly the batteries went flat and our power went off. I’ve always been obsessed with monitoring our solar system, but for some reason I didn’t turn off the pool or water treatment pumps, ran washing machine-loads of towels all day, left a load of lights on and then started the 3-phase industrial dishwasher before the sun came up. Thankfully our guests were checking out and the gas cooker provided all they needed for breakfast, but I was a little shell-shocked by my own complacency...and that’s definitely a good thing. Our systems have been remarkably robust, aside from the little power cut and the occasional water “pump cavitation.” Whether it was a leaking pipe or a pump “running out of curve,” we would have loved a little more attention from our water engineer, but for an off-grid system and an average of 18 people a night, it’s been impressive for season 1. After our quietish week guests are starting to return to Vale das Estrelas and September is already starting to look busy. We love all the readers and listeners taking advantage of our special blog-following discount...and by way of apology for my six-week absence from Substack, we would like to extend that offer into October. We’ve happily eroded our overdraft and our young business is going well, but we could really do with your support to help us through winter. If you go onto our website and booking engine here and then enter the promotional code BLOG25 you’ll get a 15% discount for the rest of September and the whole of October (but don’t tell anyone). In my old life, the silly season was the summer lull when everyone went on holiday and we needed to find quirky stories to fill the airwaves. I’m not sure “silly” is the right word for the mad world and relentless news cycle that continued throughout the summer, but that lull is certainly over...it’s been quite a week. Israel bombed a new country; American political tension exploded with an assassination; France, Japan and Nepal all lost their prime ministers; Russian drones entered Polish and Romanian airspace; and NASA (maybe) discovered life on Mars. Exhausting isn’t it? And those were just the top stories. But this news hound now listens to classical music, we still marvel every evening at our amazing view at orange time and pink time, the reorganised beaches are beautiful, and you really can get away from it all. Come to the Valley of the Stars: we’re in the country, on the coast and off the grid. And above all, it’s quiet here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alastairleithead.substack.com

    9 min
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From Our Own Correspondent-style despatches from a former BBC reporter who's now battling to live off the grid in the Alentejo countryside. Selected audio recordings of his weekly blog which began in 2020. alastairleithead.substack.com

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