We moved to Portugal in search for a life with more sun and personal freedom. In Belgium we had everything we wanted but a little voice kept saying that it is hard to be ourselves in a society where a competitive spirit and stress is always lurking nearby.

After two years we found a place for a more healthy lifestyle: an abandoned, shabby quinta with two acres of land in the hearth of a rolling and mysterious village.

The book is divided in seven basic needs where we fought for: Freedom, Warmth, Shelter, Community, Food and Love.

But this is not a book about finding happiness. It’s a story about going back to basics, and being content with small things. And understanding that it’ll do.

My book is about finding balance between the best of two worlds, an adventure with ups and downs, filled with curious astonishment, staggering loneliness, marriage problems, personal victories and a malicious contractor. Everything has its price, but the one who perseveres, conquers.

Only available in Dutch…