WHAT IF WE JUST LEFT?
A decolonial residency for the liberators of today and tomorrow.
6-days of Portugues sanctuary where your full, wild, brilliant self is not a problem to fix, but medicine to honor.
ASK YOURSELF...
HOW LONGÂ HAS IT BEEN?
How long has it been since you actually lived?
>> Not survived. Not hustled. Not compressed yourself to fit into boxes built for someone else.
Actually lived.
With your full, wild, brilliant self recognized as medicine, not a problem to fix.
Where your body's signals aren't something to override, but wisdom to honor.
In community that feels like matching puzzle pieces clicking into place, not jagged edges forced together.
I KNOW YOU'VE HADÂ
THATÂ CONVERSATION:Â
You know the one.
It usually happens late at night, after a few drinks, when you're with your people and the masks come off.
- "Why the fuck do we all live so far apart?"
- "Why do I own a lemon squeezer I use once a year when my friend across town loves to cook?"
- "Why are we all trying to be everything for ourselves when we could fit together like we were meant to?"
- "How long before it's actually unsafe for us here?"
- "WHAT IF WE JUST ... LEFT?"
And then morning comes. The job demands attention. The bills need paying.
The thought dissolves back into "someday" territory
But that conversation keeps happening, doesn't it?
Because something deep in you knows there's a better way.
I'M DONE JUST TALKING ABOUT IT
I'm Dara, and I got tired of having the same conversation over and over with no movement.
IÂ keep meeting brilliant people who were drowning under capitalism's demands, whose light was getting dimmer under the weight of trying to be everything for themselves while living in systems actively designed to extract their energy without giving back.
And honestly... It's pissing me off.
So I decided: what if we stop talking about it and start practicing it?
What if we create a living laboratory where we get to experience what it feels like when your authority over your own life is restored?
When you're in a community that naturally distributes labor and resources rather than forcing everyone to own and do everything?
What if we make Portugal not just a vacation spot, but a preview of what's possible when we reject isolation and reclaim how humans were meant to live?
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GET IN STARSHINE,
WE'RE GOING TO PORTUGAL.
Â
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER IT WILL BE VIABLE TO STAY IN THE US...
For marginalized folks—especially queer, disabled, and neurodivergent people of color—the instability isn’t new.
It’s just speeding up.
Political targeting. Climate change dangers. Systems collapsing under their own weight.
And every time, we’re expected to carry more.
So I researched and researched: where the hell could a queer, disabled, Black lady like me even BE safely? Where can the people like me BE together, intentionally? And, my loves, I landed on Portugal.
It ranks high on proactive climate resilience. It offers universal healthcare. It’s one of the few countries actively welcoming U.S. expats.
There are real visa pathways. Real multi-generational communities already forming. Real infrastructure for a different way of living.
- You don’t need another dream to hold onto
- You need a place to start
- This residency is that place
- A lived experiment. A grounded possibility.
I want you to join me in the first step in answering a question you're already asking:
If I had to leave, what would it look like to start over in a way that doesn’t start from scratch?
GET EXCITED...
THIS ISÂ YOUR INVITATION
For six days in October, we're creating sanctuary.
Not a generic wellness retreat.
→ Restoration that doesn’t end when the week does.
Not some standard vacation.
→ Joy, rest, and collective rehearsal for a freer life.
Not another productivity hack.
→You’re not here to optimize. You’re here to reclaim.
... But a practice ground for the life we deserve.
A small, curated group of us (think ~7-12 folks) will gather in a beautiful Portuguese villa to experience what happens when:
- Your time moves at a human pace, not capitalism's
- Your neurodivergent needs become the default design, not an accommodation
- Your body remembers what safety actually feels like
- Your inner authority drives decisions, not external expectations
- Your unique gifts are celebrated, not hidden
You'll wake up when your body says to wake. You'll eat meals prepared with care. You'll have conversations that go deeper than small talk but never demand performative vulnerability.
You'll remember what it's like to take a nap during a gathering without apology. To say "I need space" without justification. To follow your curiosity without needing to monetize it.
You'll discover what it feels like to be in your full authority again - that feeling you had as a baby before the world taught you to doubt your own signals.
And, crucially, you'll learn the practical pathways to making Portugal (or anywhere) a viable option when the US becomes uninhabitable - whether from climate collapse, political targeting, or the slow violence of a capitalist white supremacist patriarchy that was built with our failure and pain as a keystone.
YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE...
I KNOW WHO YOU ARE
You belong with us because:
- You've been feeling that lurking sense that America isn't sustainable for you long-term
- You crave genuine community but also need your space respected
- You're not looking to be fixed or improved, but to be restored to your natural state
- You're exhausted by constant gaslighting about what you need and feel
- You're hungry for experiences designed FOR neurodivergent brains, not despite them
- You get excited imagining shared resources and collective homemaking
- You're ready to move beyond talking about liberation to practicing it and YOU'RE READY TO CO CREATE THE NEXT PHASE OF LIBERATED LIVING RIGHT NOW
AND I KNOW WHAT YOU NEED
Throughout our week together, we'll be learning and practicing:
- My one-of-a-kind Red Marble Method to identify and celebrate what makes us uniquely us
- Creating daily rhythms that honor different energy patterns and needs
- The practical pathways to making international moves possible (digital nomad visas, banking, healthcare)
- Decolonized approaches to body, time, and community
- Tangible tools for creating sanctuary spaces wherever we go
- Connect with each other in ways that will last far beyond our week together
I want this, but I have NO idea where to start
____Â Everybody, literally.
I just want to be next to my people. Life shouldn't be this hard
____Â All of us, again
 THIS IS THE FIRST STEPÂ
Everyone I’ve talked to has said the same thing:
"I want this. I just don’t know where to start."
So I built this as the first step.
 A lived experience instead of overwhelming plans and ten-point checklists. A place to feel it, try it, and rehearse it; together.Â
I'M READY
LET ME HIT YOU WITH...
THE DEETS
From October 23-28, our home will be a stunning 12-bedroom villa. In this magical week, you'll experience:
- 6 days/ 5 nights in a GORGEOUS villa in the center of Portugal
- Transportation from and to the airport
- Welcome drinks & tapas on arrival
- All meals prepared by an in-house chef with a focus on regional gastronomy, including a special BBQ night
- An alentejo music night
- Heated pool and gardens for sensory pleasure
- A private bedroom (with blackout curtains!) for restoration when you need it
- Beautiful common spaces for connection
- Transformative workshops helping you shed the trauma of colonization, rediscover your intuition through art, and learn to make intentional, non-extractive community in Portugal (or anywhere)
- Time and space to influence and co-create our future sanctuary
Every detail has been chosen to create an environment where you can exhale completely - where your full, strange, beautiful self belongs.
NEUROSPARKLY? ME TOO! THAT'S WHY WE'VE MADE YOU...
A FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE BUILT WITHÂ YOU IN MIND
Are you a "when they're the right people, I LOVE to people ... until I don't" kind of person?
Babe? SAME.
Because we're literally practicing what we preach, our schedule honors human needs:
- Morning offerings are completely optional (sleep in or join gentle activities)
- Mid-day gatherings bring us together for our core exploration
- Afternoons open for rest, exploration, or connection as you need
- Evenings create space for celebration, integration, and joy
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AND YOU KNOW I LOVE SOME...
BONUSES BABY.
Â
WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR THE RESIDENCY, YOU ALSO GET:Â
- Six months of HOPE Â
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HOPE creates the sanctuary before we ever touch Portuguese soil. My hidden enclave where we shed corporate trauma together and build lives we actually want.
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While others drown in toxic workplaces, HOPE members have said NO, and are doing the work to live the lives of their dreams.
Our work begins now. We become community before we meet in person. Share virtual spaces. Learn each other's rhythms. Practice the subtle dance of figuring out who makes the coffee and who tells the best stories.
By the time we land in Portugal, your nervous system already recognizes these humans as safe.Â
- A hand-crafted SUPERSTAR REPORTÂ
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This is my personalized map of your brilliance based on the Red Marble methodology.
The report names what systems tried to dim because your powers threatened them. The qualities that make you impossible to overlook when you stop apologizing for them.
Many people discover they've been carrying weight never meant for them. Expectations shaped by white supremacist capitalist structures designed to extract their genius without proper payment.
The report gives language to sensations lived in your body but never named. Walking into Portugal with that clarity changes everything.Â
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YOU'RE READY TO REMEMBER
WHAT LIVING FEELS LIKE
Join us for WHAT IF WE JUST LEFT?
Let's stop talking about a different way of living and actually practice it.
(INVITE-ONLY) EARLYBIRD PAYMENT PLAN
$1,333/m
$500 DEPOSIT + 3 MONTHLY PAYMENTS - TWO SPOTS LEFT AT THIS PRICE
APPLY NOW(INVITE-ONLY) EARLYBIRD PAY IN FULL
$4,000
ONE-TIME PAYMENT - TWO SPOTS LEFT AT THIS PRICE
APPLY NOW
YOU'RE NOT A FAILED VERSION OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Capitalism convinces us we should be everything for ourselves.
It tells us, in hidden, nefarious ways, that to be an adult is to carry quietly, collapse privately, and keep producing anyway.
But, you and I both know that is not how humans are built. And it’s definitely not how communities thrive.
... And yet. When my autistic ass can't be the accountant, and chef, and cleaner, and perfect dog mom, and stylist, and doctor, and partner, and business owner (who also does everything themselves), a little voice in the back of my head says "you're supposed to be able to do this... everyone else can," even when the higher, smarter, more shrewd version of myself knows that's a lie.
I'M OVER IT. Â
The promise of this residency is simple but revolutionary:
By your own authority, live a life that carries fewer regrets because you chose your life for you.
Not because external expectations or someone else with values that aren't yours chose it for you. Not because you never saw another option. But because of your authority, and your power to CHOOSE.
You will walk away having experienced what it feels like to live in your authority again, with practical tools to create that anywhere, and a community to build something more permanent with.
This is practicing for the world we're building together.
