Twenty Years of Happy Chances
If there is one word that most accurately captures what I love about travel in particular, and life in general, it’s serendipity.
It’s hard to envision a life any different from the one Mike and I chose twenty years ago.
Our decision to live around the world was driven by a deep-seated yearning to experience life more profoundly, more adventurously, to embrace a nomadic existence of genuine curiosity and discovery, without knowing what to expect. Above all, to meet remarkable people who make the world genuinely better, to learn about their cultures, and to be inspired by their knowledge, wisdom, and craft. We had no idea how much we would be changed by it all.
The Secret We Didn’t Know We Were Looking For
Beneath all of it, we encountered one of the great secrets to happiness: a joyful pursuit of serendipity, those happy chances that make life so profoundly sweet, so unexpectedly and beautifully full.
Little did we know how incredibly rewarding and fulfilling our gastronomadic life would become. And what has perhaps astonished me most, looking back across twenty years, is how serendipitous it’s all been.
The Life That Found Us
We didn’t plan the life we’re living. We couldn’t have. It found us.
We simply stayed open to the adventure, to taking chances, to saying yes to life and to living it deeply, to finding joy in the experience of being alive.
We walked through open doors without knowing where they led. Along the way, we discovered a world of people who embraced us as family, meaningful connections we never sought and could never have engineered. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, entirely unintentionally, the Gastronomad Experience was born.
None of it by design. All of it, a happy, beautiful accident.
It’s been an extraordinary twenty-year journey, filled with the full spectrum of human experience, from the most mundane moments to the most awe-inspiring adventures, and everything in between.
There have been periods of pure elation and wonder, and also long stretches of profound sadness, challenge, and hardship. It’s been a time of immense personal growth, discovery, and transformation.
Exploring this magnificent planet and gaining a deeper understanding of the world around us has been profoundly inspiring and meaningful. We never imagined the extent to which we would be changed, or the sense of purpose we would find along the way.
It All Began with a Dream
A dream that required risk. A genuine leap of faith. I was walking away from a thriving career in Silicon Valley, a role as Chief of Staff for a division of AT&T, work I genuinely enjoyed and that paid me extremely well, in exchange for something entirely uncertain but deeply desired: a life of adventure, of meaning, of roaming the world in search of something more.
Mike and I set out into nomadic life with no idea what the future held. Looking back, we were probably a little naive, perhaps even reckless, walking away from job security and a comfortable income. But we knew, with complete certainty, that this was what we wanted more than anything else. More than the stability of a permanent home. More than the allure of material possessions. More than the safety of a life already mapped out.
We weren’t afraid to trade the comforts of a conventional life for the freedom and excitement of an uncertain future. During our honeymoon, we made a promise to each other that someday we would travel the world full time. And when the moment came, we kept it.
We were willing to step outside of every comfort zone we had ever known, trusting that the experiences, the adventure, and the beauty we were searching for were waiting somewhere on the other side of the unknown.
What we couldn’t have imagined, and what twenty years have since confirmed, is that the most extraordinary things were never the ones we expected. They were the ones that found us when we stayed open.
The first organic farmer we met in Sparta, Greece, who became a lifelong friend. The table we stumbled upon in a village no guidebook had ever mentioned. The guests who arrive as strangers and leave as family during our Gastronomad Experiences.
What Serendipity Taught Me
It turns out that serendipity is not just luck. It is mostly what happens when you embrace life fully, when you say yes to adventure and opportunity, when you seize each moment that presents itself on your path, again and again, without knowing where it will lead, and without letting fear stand between you and what your heart truly desires.
Even now, the more we travel, the more we understand the sheer vastness and complexity of the world we inhabit. And yet the more we wander, the more we realize how little we’ve seen. The more we learn, the more we discover how much remains beautifully beyond our knowledge.
With each passing year, our appreciation for this planet, its breathtaking landscapes, its diverse cultures, its ancient traditions and extraordinary cuisines only continues to deepen. It’s humbling and grounding in the most beautiful and meaningful way.
The Gift Serendipity Bestowed Upon Us
After ten years of meandering around the world, the Gastronomad Experience came to life. As we celebrate ten wonderful years of its existence, I find myself returning to the same happy truth: serendipity is what made it possible.
It’s an immense honor and privilege to host Gastronomad Experiences in different countries around the world, one that fills me with profound gratitude every single day. From envisioning and crafting a week of joyful, once-in-a-lifetime culinary adventures and magical gatherings around tables that exist nowhere else, to welcoming our guests, to choosing each welcome gift with care, we pour our hearts and souls into every detail, wholeheartedly and without reservation.
When our guests arrive, we’re filled with profound joy and anticipation. We’re ready to immerse ourselves together in an enchanting, ever-unfolding week of delightful surprises and singular culinary discoveries, creating memories that will last a lifetime. And yet, when we first set out on this journey twenty years ago, I never could have imagined any of it.
Every Gastronomad Experience is an endless source of inspiration. I cherish deeply every day spent meandering somewhere far from our roots. Each culinary adventure, each encounter with a local culture or tradition, each winemaker who shares a story passed down through generations, each maker and artisan whose craft carries the weight of a lifetime devoted to mastery, is a source of creative energy and profound personal growth.
