After a whirlwind trip through Japan, we arrived to our first long-stay of the year in Buggio, Italy. Buggio is a small, old town in the Ligurian Alps, located about 30 minutes north of the Italian and French Riviera. When we say small and old, we mean it. We were quite literally living in ruins dating back to the 4th century. While it’s unconfirmed, local folklore says it was founded by three robbers who escaped from France and settled into the area where Buggio now stands. There are no shops and cafes, just one restaurant. There are only about 100 residents, mostly elderly, and the homes that aren’t occupied are pretty rundown. While this may immediately scare off some, it does have a lot going for it. We arrived into Buggio and were in awe of how breathtaking views of the town were. Surrounded by mountains with the sound of a flowing creek, it is tranquil, quiet, and other-worldly. When we booked the home in Buggio, we knew it would be immediately after a crazy month of travel, which made the somewhat isolated location ideal for us to unwind, regroup, and start to focus on the day-to-day projects we are hoping to pursue.

Our days in Buggio were simple. Every morning we would wake up, run the very steep hill to the top of town (sometimes to cheers of “Bravo!” from one of the old ladies in town), and then spend the rest of our days relaxing, reading, and writing. AJ worked on his music and other projects, while I focused on cooking new recipes, practicing Spanish, and plotting our next adventure. We also went exploring through the woods and mountains, and discovered some scenery that was so beautiful it left us speechless. Not to mention that wildflowers that I will remember forever. One of our favorite discoveries was a quick trail that led us down to the flowing creek that runs through town. It was a private oasis seemingly made just for us. The large, rock walls were covered in greenery, leaving us perfectly shaded in our own little oasis. The day after we discovered it, we went for an afternoon picnic to the “beach” where we stayed, uninterrupted, for hours. Another beautiful and cardio-intensive hike led us to a vineyard and small church, and our final hike led us to what I can only describe as a boulder graveyard. Once the riverbed, the water has since gone away, leaving a vast “river” of large boulders. It was one of the most unique things I have ever seen.

Even though we didn’t get to interact with the local residence as much as we’d hoped, we did have a few nice moments with them. My favorite was after a run to the top of the hill, one of the men, who was out playing bocce ball with some of the others, pulled us over to offer us some of his wife’s (delicious) homemade blueberry tart. The perfect way to end a tough workout, in my opinion.

We made the most of our time in Buggio, and while we planned to stay in Buggio for two months, we ended up leaving after only one month. Our quick trips from Buggio (see: Quick Trips in France and Italy) left us wanting a bit more cultural and social interaction (and if we’re being honest, fully functioning wifi), which was one of our main reasons for moving to Europe. So we decided to switch things up a bit and head to Paris for the second month. Buggio was a special experience for us and taught us a lot about the things we want in life. For example, living 30 minutes from a grocery store = not ideal. Living close to nature = very ideal. It helped us define our likes a little more, and allowed us to explore certain projects that we’d been itching to get to while we were traveling for the first month. It also gave us a great home base to explore the area and enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of the world.