THE LIMINAL | Alentejo, Portugal | 5 Nights, 6 Days of Surrender
THE LIMINAL is temporary residency that caters to all those who are currently in the space between exits, roles, and life stages.
If you want to unplug, but you have zero desire to be forced into a downward dog or drink a green juice while someone talks about aligning chakras, I offer you unbothered and agenda free silence. I invite you to a space where you can lose the inner and outer noise. It is a 6-day, 5-night departure from the digital feedback loop into the reality of raw land and silence. Slow down your days without internet, without networking, and without the urge to control your time and fill it with activities and anticipation.
Enjoy the present moment without trying to control it: under the arcades, in the pergola, the sauna, around the pool, while taking a long walk through an ancient olive grove, watching a stunning sunset, or while sitting around the wood stove with or alongside the other residents.
FORMAT 6-day, 5-nights. Application only. Limited to 5 participants with different backgrounds to ensure a diverse intellectual environment, so it does not become a networking event for a homogenous group of industry professionals.
PRICE from €2,500 per person An all-inclusive residency from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave the gates of the farm. Includes accommodation in a private en-suite room where rustic charm meets modern comfort, all meals (some of which are jointly prepared), one hour of 1:1 curatorial mentorship, group activities, curated alone time, analog materials, and excursions.
LOCATION 20 ha olive farm 6 km from Elvas, Alentejo, and estate designed to slow down the perception of time. Elvas is a historic border town—a literal buffer zone between nations. It embodies the exact threshold quality we explore internally. The architecture and landscape of the estate dictate the rhythm of the days.
ACTIVITIES On the Farm: Arcades, a pergola, a pool, a sauna, walking among ancient olive trees, learning about the process of olive oil production—a masterclass in how time and pressure yield substance. Outside the Farm: We will also use the time to explore ancient nearby towns and their cultural heritage and unique museums.
ANALOG IMMERSION Upon arrival, electronics are dropped off with the host in a safe. Your connection to the global feed is replaced by the immediate geography and the five other minds in the room. For urgent cases the hosts phone number can be passed on to family and business partners, so you are reachable for true emergencies without relying on your phone. Depending on the time of the year, you can enjoy fire-side chat, pool side dialogues, or just spend time in silence reading or listening to the sounds of the land. No networking. No pitch decks.
THE CURATED GAZE You are handed a journal for writing or drawing, and an instant camera, binoculars, and working gloves. Your only "feed" consists of the other participants you can talk to and the horizon of the estate.
NO STIMULATORS, NO PERFORMANCE Instead of relying on guided psychedelic journeys, micro-dosing protocols, or plant medicine I would like to invite you to reach transformative clarity using nothing but analog reality and the sound of silence. No mandatory yoga, no shared meditation, and no performative spirituality. If yoga is part of your private, daily practice, you are entirely free to find a quiet space under the arcades and practice on your own terms. But I will never make you perform your peace of mind in front of a group or based on a benchmark.
RELINQUISH THE NEED TO MANAGE TIME There is no straitjacket itinerary. When you know what is happening at 2:00 PM, you stop living in the morning; you begin anticipating the afternoon. While there is an agenda of things we will do as a group—from cooking, to creative strategy sessions, exploring the farm, or conducting a daytrip— this agenda will not be communicated to you beforehand. By concealing the timeline, we remove the burden of choice. You will not have to coordinate, plan, or decide anything for six days. Every meal, excursion, and fire is fully handled. Your only task is to exist in the space provided.
APPLICATION FORM https://forms.gle/Hy4QqtDkUJ35mqUD6
DATES Aug 21–26, 2026 Oct 05-10, 2026
ABOUT ME
As the host I will be present sometimes in the background as you enjoy time and space to yourself, sometimes more actively, as we discover the farm and its surrounding together.
I host this space because I understand the weight of the systems you are trying to step away from. Having spent much of my life in liminal spaces myself—between cultures, countries, disciplines, and careers—I have come to realize, that the process of creation— whether in the arts, in business, or as a farmer—only becomes possible through a certain comfort with the liminal. As I moved between art, cryptoeconomics, agriculture, and social science.
THE LIMINAL residency is, in many ways, an expression of that lifelong journey—a space for people who find themselves between chapters, identities, places, or futures. I will share my experiences and also offer a one-on-one sessions each, but first and foremost I offer a space and activities where participants can become comfortable with what can initially feel like the discomfort of losing control over what comes next or who one is.
MEANING OF LIMINAL
Before a painting exists, before a book is written, before a business is founded, there is a period of ambiguity in which possibilities exist but outcomes remain unknown. Creative breakthroughs rarely emerge from certainty. They emerge from curiosity, experimentation, doubt, contradiction, and openness.
The liminal space is where old patterns loosen their grip and new patterns become imaginable. It is neither here nor there, a space between what was and what comes next. It is a passage rather than a destination, a state of suspension in which old structures have dissolved but new ones have not yet fully emerged:
A doorway between two room. An airport between departures and arrivals. The space between knowing and not knowing. Often overlooked because they are not meant to be inhabited.
A period of transition when familiar identities, routines, and certainties no longer fit, yet a new orientation has not fully formed. It is only in the absence of fixed roles and expectations that new perspectives become possible.
The liminal space invites surrender to uncertainty. It asks us to pause our constant effort to optimize, improve, and define ourselves, and instead encounter reality as it is.
For artists, entrepreneurs, researchers, builders and parents alike, liminality is a prerequisite.
The Purpose of This Residency
THE LIMINAL is designed as a temporary threshold. By removing digital distractions, schedules, expectations, and the pressure to perform, I create the conditions for inhabiting this in-between space consciously rather than rushing through it. The goal is to spend a few days on the threshold long enough to hear what emerges when the noise subsides. If you are looking to be pampered, entertained, or spiritually curated, there are a thousand retreats designed for you. If you are ready to drop the armor of your schedule, disconnect from the network, and step across the threshold of what comes next, welcome to THE LIMINAL.
THE LIMINAL
No Wi-Fi. No Yoga. No Itinerary.
A 5-night departure from the digital feedback loop into the reality of raw land and silence. On a private 20-hectare olive farm in Alentejo, Portugal.
For founders, builders, creatives and parents between chapters.
Max. 5 residents. Application only.
Aug 21–26, 2026.
Apply: shermin.net/the-liminal
Card 1: The Philosophy of Time
"When you know what is happening at 2:00 PM, you stop living in the morning."By eliminating the timeline, we eliminate expectations.
Card 2: The Anti-Wellness Stance
No mandatory yoga. > No shared meditation. > No performative spirituality.We will never make you perform your peace of mind.
Card 3: The Target Audience
A temporary threshold for those currently in the space between exits, roles, and life stages.Creative breakthroughs rarely emerge from certainty.
Card 4: The Digital Cleansing
A departure from the digital feedback loop into the reality of raw land and silence.Your connection to the global feed is replaced by the immediate geography.
Card 5: The Alternative to Plant Medicine
Transformative clarity using nothing but analog reality and the sound of silence.No guided psychedelic journeys. No microdosing protocols. Just presence.
Card 6: The Filter
If you are looking to be pampered or spiritually curated, there are a thousand retreats designed for you.If you are ready to drop the armor of your schedule, welcome to THE LIMINAL.
I’ve been offline for months, living on an olive farm in Alentejo. It has forced me to look closely at the architecture of how we spend our days, and I’ve realized something:When you know what is happening at 2:00 PM, you stop living in the morning. >
By knowing the timeline, we begin anticipating the future rather than inhabiting the present. Modern life is a hyper-optimized schedule trap. Even "wellness retreats" force you into a strict itinerary of 7:00 AM meditation and 2:00 PM green juices. It isn't peace; it's just a different corporate layout.
This August, I am opening the gates of the farm for THE LIMINAL—a temporary threshold for 6 individuals navigating a significant life transition.
There is no Wi-Fi. There is no mandatory yoga. And there is no communicated agenda. By eliminating the timeline, we eliminate expectations. You do not need to manage time here. You only need to show up.
- Dates: Aug 21–26, 2026
- Capacity: Limited to 6 diverse intellectual backgrounds.
- Details & Application: shermin.net/the-liminal
Hey [Name], emerging from the olive trees for a second. I’m hosting a tiny, 6-person analog residency on my farm in Alentejo this August (Aug 21-26) for people navigating big life transitions. Total digital detox, zero schedule. I want a really diverse intellectual mix, not just one industry. Who is the most brilliant, painfully burned-out person in your orbit right now who needs a hard reset? Send them my way: shermin.net/the-liminal
Hey [Name], I know you've had a massive, grueling year with [Project/Exit]. I'm emerging from the offline world for a moment because I'm hosting a tiny, 6-person analog residency on my farm in Alentejo this August (Aug 21-26). No Wi-Fi, no tech networking, no forced itineraries—just raw land, a wood-fired sauna, and a space to let the brain reset between chapters. I'm keeping the cohort incredibly curated. Take a look at the concept, I’d love to have your mind in the room if you need the threshold space right now: shermin.net/the-liminal
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