Life at Selvitelle Archives - Ecolodge Selvitelle

Before I moved to Cilento, I had a busy business and a life that looked successful from the outside. My days were full. Yet I increasingly felt that the way I was living no longer suited me.

Moving to southern Italy came after a difficult period in my personal and working life. It was a substantial change, with uncertainty as well as possibility.

What I found in Cilento was space to start building a different everyday life. Selvitelle grew from that choice.

Starting again on a smaller scale

I did not want to recreate the pace I had left. I wanted work that felt worthwhile and a place where life could include more than work.

The land gave that idea something practical to grow around. There was a garden to work in, food to prepare and plenty to learn. Days could be shaped by what needed doing here, rather than by a full diary of appointments.

Starting again was not a simple solution to everything. It involved doubt and unfamiliar responsibilities. But it also gave me a sense of being more involved in the life I was choosing.

What Selvitelle has become

Today, Selvitelle is our home and a small ecolodge with two independent studios. There are animals around, vegetables growing and work that changes with the seasons.

We welcome guests who appreciate that setting: people who enjoy nature, quiet and the freedom to spend their time as they wish.

Some guests are curious about the garden or what is happening on the land. Others want their own terrace, a book and a base for exploring Cilento. Both are welcome.

There may be an invitation to share a meal or join in with something seasonal. It depends on what is happening. A stay does not come with a programme to follow.

Space without expectations

My own experience is part of Selvitelle's story, but it does not define what a guest should get from being here.

You do not need to be at a turning point or looking for a different life. You may simply want a holiday with fewer demands on your attention.

We offer a place to stay independently, with nature around you and room to decide how to spend the day. What you make of that time is yours.

A life that continues to grow

I am still learning how to live and work here. There are satisfying days and difficult ones, as there are anywhere.

What has changed is my sense of what is enough: a useful day's work, something good to cook and time with people I care about.

Read more about Selvitelle if you would like to get to know the place behind this Journal.

Cooking was part of my life long before it became my work. As a child, I liked being in the kitchen: tasting, smelling and trying to understand how ingredients came together. I imagined becoming a chef.

The route I took was less straightforward. Some of the kitchens where I worked put speed and cost ahead of the care I wanted to give the food. Over time, something I had enjoyed began to feel like a routine to get through.

Moving to Cilento, in southern Italy, did not bring that pleasure back all at once. It gave me room to notice it again.

When cooking became work

I went to hotel school and later started my own business. I learnt a great deal, but my idea of success changed along the way. I became more concerned with keeping the business moving than with the reasons I had wanted to cook in the first place.

There was always another task, another deadline or another reason to hurry. Cooking had become part of that pace.

Looking back, I can see how far I had moved from the child who simply wanted to be in the kitchen.

Finding pleasure in simple ingredients

In Cilento, I began to pay attention to food differently. Vegetables from the garden, local cheese and olive oil gave me reasons to cook without needing to turn every meal into a performance.

I started making bread again. I enjoyed the smell from the oven, a tomato roasted until its flavour deepened, and the familiar work of chopping and stirring.

These were small things. They helped me remember that cooking could be satisfying in itself, even when there was no customer to impress and nothing to prove.

The way I cook now

At Selvitelle, the garden and the seasons influence what I feel like making. I value simple food and ingredients worth paying attention to. Sharing a meal with friends can be enough of an occasion.

That does not make every day effortless. There is work here too. But I have found a way to give cooking a different place in my life.

I no longer need it to carry the weight of being successful. I can enjoy making something because I want to eat it or share it.

Making room for what matters

This is my experience, rather than a recipe for changing someone else's life. Moving to Italy was part of my story; rediscovering an old interest need not require such a large step.

For me, it began with having enough space to notice what I had missed.

If you would like to know more about the place where that happened, read our story.

Life at Selvitelle

A different rhythm: my life in Cilento