When we booked our first extended trip I was still running my jewellery business, we hadn’t planned on being regular slomads so it was timed around my quietest time of the year, January. We planned six weeks of winter sun in Mijas Pueblo, a fab little place we’d recently spent a week in and really enjoyed. John would set up his laptop and I’d work on new designs. A bit of a safe (soft) location option? Maybe, but who cares? That’s what we chose and we can’t wait to get back there.
A month or two, many discussions, and even more glasses of wine later and we’ve decided a change of lifestyle is what we’re really craving, we’ve always wanted to travel more and becoming slomads seems to be the perfect opportunity for us. As a jewellery business isn’t particularly mobile, I begin closing it down and return to a former life in web design.
Ten months until our first trip, but we can’t wait that long. September seems a good place to start. That gives us a few months to wrap things up with my business, get my head back in web design mode, and gives us a chance to get organised.
But where to go for our new first trip? We’re thinking of sticking to Europe for this one, ease ourselves into the lifestyle gently. Maybe Eastern Europe, the cost of living tends to be a little lower and we already know how stunning The Balkans are; a few weeks in a winery in east Slovenia sounds very attractive. Or a little further north perhaps, explore the fabulous architecture and beers of Czechia. How about Istanbul? We could take a small step across the Bosphorus Strait into Asia and try out the local raki. So many choices it’s hard to know where to begin!
I’m looking for inspiration and thumbing through the pages of a fabulous book, Lonely Planet’s Where to Go When. I’m becoming really keen on the idea of Georgia when something else catches my eye. It’s not in eastern Europe, or even central Europe but something about the words La Rioja just seems to grab my attention. It had me at tempranillo.
Spain twice in a row, do we really want to do that? Hell yes! We love Spain, and the different regions are all so unique, I don’t think you could compare La Rioja to Andalucia. And we’re learning Spanish, what better way to really develop our language skills than spending time in Spain.
La Rioja is known the world over for producing high quality wines, especially the full bodied reds made from the tempranillo grape, and this just happens to be one of our favourites. The prospect of the scent of the vineyards, visiting the bodegas and going on various wine tasting tours sets my tastebuds tingling.
Not to mention, September is grape harvesting season, and in an area so enshrined in the production of wine, this is a time for serious celebration, and the Spanish do love a good fiesta. For one week in September, Logroño becomes the centre of festivities, with traditional grape treading, parades of floats, food and drink tastings, music, dancing and more, for two wine loving foodies this is one not to be missed. My heart is set, Logroño here we come!
Emma is all about the good stuff: delicious food, good wine, inspiring art, and top tunes. She’s happiest surrounded by nature, lost in a great film, or deep in conversation - with a glass of white, of course.
Read more blog posts from Emma.
