BUILD YOUR OWN FREEDOM
Off-grid in Portugal: the money, the mistakes, and what nobody tells you
Language: English - 158 pages
€26.10
Synopsis
They told you it was possible. Nobody told you what it costs.
Eight years ago, I was a fine-dining chef. Three toques, 16/20 in the Gault & Millau guide. Then I gave it all up. My family and I left everything behind and moved to seven hectares in the Alentejo, Portugal, to build an off-grid life from scratch. We called it Malama.
This book is the story of what really happened, and a practical guide for anyone who dreams of doing the same. Most books about self-sufficiency sell you the dream. This one tells the truth about the money, the mistakes, and the human price nobody talks about, including the departure of my eldest son, the hardest cost of all.
Inside, you'll find both the dream and the reality: how to choose the right land, what off-grid living actually costs, the pillars that hold a life together (water, energy, natural building, food, and DIY), and the mistakes I made so you don't have to.
Illustrated with real photographs from eight years of building this life with my own hands. This is not a book about escaping to paradise. It's a book about building your freedom, honestly, with your eyes open.
About Nicolas Curtil
Nicolas Curtil spent fifteen years chasing perfection. Three toques, 16/20 in the Gault & Millau guide, a mountain restaurant in Austria, days that started before sunrise. Then he walked away from all of it.
In 2017 he sold the restaurant. With his wife Susanne and their children, he drove a truck to Portugal, bought seven hectares and three ruins, and started building a life with his own hands. He called it Malama.
Eight years later, he grows his own food, cooks with parasol mushrooms he finds on his land, and still learns something new every day. He isn't a guru. He's someone who left the safe road, made every mistake along the way, and lived to tell the truth about it.
When he isn't writing, he's building, cooking, or sitting on a bench he made from an oak that fell at the neighbour's.
Product specifications
| Binding | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publishing date | Tuesday, 1 September 2026 |
| Edition | 1 |
| Pagecount | 158 |
| Interior color | Full color |
| Size | 170 x 240 mm |
| Author | Nicolas Curtil |
| Category | House and garden > Do-It-Yourself |