Post written by Lucía Retuerto Larumbe
I had fourteen months teleworking, when I signed up for the pilot program of pueblos remotos. I went from a large city to a completely different ecosystem.
The fate of this first edition was Icod of the wines in Tenerife. There we met ten strangers who shared the way of remote work and the illusion to know new realities.
After the working day the adventure began. The activities and challenges were focused on discovering the environment. The organizers and a group of six local entrepreneurs guided us on this trip.
Part of the Icod Remote Group in the activity organized by Mama Earth - Ecotienda
Toñi, Victor, Juan, Natalia, Kay and Gustavo welcomed us with love. They were also willing to listen and wanted to learn from experience. It has been wonderful to meet people who feel authentic passion for their work and bet on sustainable rural development. They infected their illusion and in the environment an energy was generated following which some collaborations arose.
It was not the first time that I visited the island but through this collaborative formula I learned to look at the landscapes, I rediscovered local gastronomy, I better understood the Canarian economy and rurality. I like this type of travel in which you are spinning and learning to your rhythm as you relate to the environment.
I arrived at the time of greatest elevation of this 21 -day experience while a baroquito (coffee two milks and orange peel) and I thought I could live there. Another partner, Raúl, after a meal at the authentic restaurant La Barca, ventured that at that time what he wanted was to combine his work as project director with one year on Icod writing a book about the characters he was knowing.
It is that fantasy point that occurs when you have managed to melt with the trip.
Lucía Retuerto, author of the post, participating in the activity of preparation of seedbeds at the La Costa estate
Several days passed since we arrived until we discovered the imposing views of the Teide. Because it almost always woke up clouded as in the book 'Panza de Burro' by Andrea Abreu, "but everyone knew that behind the clouds a giant of 3718 meters that could hit us fire if I wanted."
Diana Vreeland said that it is essential that the travel eye and this statement has gained special meaning after confinement. Going out of a window in the city and not seeing the horizon, to an experience full of different sounds and sensations, inspiration and new references.
Icod is one of the many Spanish towns that are full of anecdotes and small details. It is not rapid consumption destinations, they are unpredictable and hide strength and roots on earth.
In this type of nearby places is where the best trips begin.
