It was the low-season of skateboarding ducks, surfing dogs, extended sports coverage and odd tales that would never normally make the evening news.
The world has changed in the few years since I left full-time journalism. I’m not sure the word “silly” does this summer’s news cycle justice … there’s not been much of a lull amid the wars, the humanitarian crises and the impact of a fast-changing America.
But in my new life, I now understand the meaning of a truly silly season from the other perspective: when you’re the place people come to to get away from it all!
What I mean is, how on earth did it suddenly become September?
What feels like just a week ago, it was June – the warm glow of having finished building our off-grid lodge and being awarded a license was wearing off.
It was being replaced by the rising panic of learning to run a small hotel business with the need for money to come in as well as to go out, with few bookings in the diary and hefty loans to pay back.
Then the bookings started arriving and the fabulous madness began.
Only now do we properly understand what tourist season here means, and why everybody working in the bars, the restaurants and the tourist lodges of Odemira is always absolutely exhausted by the autumn.
Some places have closed already, either to take some late summer sunshine themselves, or perhaps to sit in a quiet, darkened room with a stash of sedatives.
Others are powering on, knowing it’s going to be quieter in the off-season and sprinting towards the finishing line.
Somehow, for two months, we kept the treadmill of arrivals and departures going without too many mess-ups or lack-of-laundry panics.
With water a precious commodity, our personal washing production line was already being tested by all the towels, so we outsourced linens to a fabulous laundrette half an hour’s drive away in Vila Nova de Milfontes.
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.
We didn’t quite know who would come, where from and why, but by doing everything ourselves – just us, Krishna (our first member of staff) and our daughter Oda – we have learned where we need help and how we can improve and broaden what we’re doing.
While Krishna bounced between building, cleaning and prepping in the kitchen, the wonderful Oda flew in from LA to spend six weeks crafting cocktails, running events 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.
The summer ended with a flourish: our first corporate full-board retreat, breakfasts, lunches, a dinner for 16, and wine tasting for 12.
All of a sudden, the sun started setting earlier, the evenings started getting that little bit cooler. We had a surprising sprinkle of rain, and even got the chance to come up for air.
And then we enjoyed something which a few months ago would have been utterly terrifying in the face of a rapidly expanding overdraft: a night with no guests.
We didn’t quite know what to do with ourselves except have a lovely late lunch with friends, a sunset beer and catch up on some sleep.
I’m pleased to report that Silly Season One has been exhilarating, exhausting, and for beginners in the hotel business, happily successful … so far.
Having enjoyed a little headspace to start thinking beyond the next breakfast, lunch, dinner (or all three, on the same day), the late summer rush is already starting up again.
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, a welcome workload.
It gave us the idea of trying to attract some of the walkers to linger a little longer in the area and swap their backpacks for a more luxurious adventure.
We’ve always loved doing daily stretches of the walk from our place – four stages are easily accessible from here – and hopefully we can tempt walkers with easy shuttle runs to and from the trailhead, a pool with a view, a lovely dinner washed down with a new wine and a breakfast of champions to start every day.
We’re also getting all the logistics in place for our first painting retreat at the beginning of October (we’ve had a cancellation, so there’s space for one individual or two sharing to join – please get in touch if you’re interested).
Sitting under the stars the other night, looking up at the Milky Way, Ana and I both agreed we never expected our lives to go in this direction, but we’re happy they did.
We’re in the country, on the coast and off the grid.
The view is what we fell in love with – and it’s still amazing – but amid the noise of news cycles and chaos around the world, it’s a quiet place to get away from it all.
ALASTAIR LEITHEAD is a former BBC foreign correspondent now living off the grid in rural Alentejo. He and his wife Ana run www.ValleyoftheStars.co.uk / www.valedasestrelas.pt, and are on Instagram @vale_das_estrelas
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