Lost Minds Family

*Please read carefully to understand what this experience is about*

Hi and welcome to Portugal! My name is Mike, a very active 55 years young, and I own 1.5 hectares of off-grid loveliness near Castelo Branco in central Portugal. It's a beautiful place - rugged, wild and free with great mountain views. This project was originally set up in the UK as a safe and chilled space at festivals to help people who may have done too much, lost their friends, or who were simply not up for a full-on party. A place were anyone can meet and make connections, and relax with people from all walks of life. We have travellers from all over the world and the dynamic is always changing, we love artists and musicians and anyone with a unique style or talent but as long as you're fun I'm sure you'll fit in and maybe you will learn something new and exciting! Our aim is to bring a little of that festival vibe here to Portugal, on a smaller scale. A haven to gather your thoughts, relax, and enjoy nature but at the same time have the opportunity to interact with others, experience the off-grid lifestyle and help build an amazing place for all to enjoy.
This is a fabulous off-grid community built on top of a mountain, where our closest neighbour is 1km away and every-day resources like water and electricity have to be worked for, everything here has been carried it up the hill by the hands of previous volunteers. This means there isn’t any plumbed water so can’t just turn on a tap to wash your hands, we collect drinking water from nearby springs and carry it back in 5l bottles to the house, water for showers needs to be pumped from a local well but much we prefer to go the local swimming pool and utilise natural lakes for showers 2-3 times a week. To get hot water to clean the dishes we boil it on the stove first, we try to do this only once a day so reuse cups and plates through the day. As you might expect there isn’t a plumbed toilet so we like to go al-natural and have an compost toilet about 100 meters from the house, it has a beautiful view overlooking the valley and is a great place to ponder life.
Electricity is created off our solar panels and an alternator, meaning no sun = no power. In the height of summer we have no problems charging a few phones a day and more importantly keeps our speakers running and a few lights in the evening. In winter or when it’s not sunny the fridge gets turned off to save power for the important lights and speakers. This isn’t a place to bring along a hairdryer or keep a skin care routine.
From the paved public roads there is a 10min drive on a bumpy dirt road and then a 15min hike up the mountain so access is not for the faint hearted but is 100% worth the journey.
We live alongside the local animal and insect community so often see scorpions, flies, mosquitos, wasps, centipedes, spiders and foxes but don’t have any issues living alongside them in harmony. The birds here sing at night which is quite magical to experience, and we're lucky enough to catch occasional sightings of wild boar.
This experience is not for the faint hearted, but it will either make you a stronger person or it will brake you, regardless though it will give you time to get back into nature and away from the stresses of the lives you will be leaving behind and give you the chance to reinvent yourself. It's not for everyone, but 99% of my guests love it and feel it's been a positive step in their lives. For me it's the best thing I’ve ever done, it gave me time and space to face my issues and find my place in life. I hope it can be a place you too can find your peace.
It is a true off-grid experience but with fun as the number one priority - in our eyes this lifestyle is not work - we do things because we want to, not because we have to. We understand that many people use their holiday time to do these kinds of experiences, so it's important to us that it should be fun, and not leave you exhausted each day.
We're a fan of Portugal Time, no rush - it's about the journey, not the destination. We have a fantastic local community with lots always going on, including festivals with the locals and at neighbours’ houses.
We promote healthy active living in natural surroundings with the aim to be self-sufficient based on permaculture principles. This will take time to achieve and will need your help, both teaching and learning from each other. Please do not expect a palace unless of course you fancy building one with us! This is a place that people can come to make connections, share their lives and experience a different way of living with other like-minded people - we'd love for you to join us!
We ideally would like people to stay for as long as possible to really get into some of the projects so we prefer a 2 week minimum stay, but this is flexible.
Jazz lovers need not apply sorry

Please read the "about the host". Everyone gets treated the same way, we want to spread love and peace over the globe and help everyone to be themselves. Tolerance is a very important thing for us and the lost minds family. The only thing we expect is that they can take care of themselves