Slow Living in Portugal: What Running Casa Koya Actually Looks Like
- Rebeca Acciaiolli
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
I'm sitting on the couch at Casa Koya, overlooking the pool, listening to birds, and waiting for paint to dry.
It feels like I haven't been here in months. But it's only been three weeks.
Three weeks feel like an eternity lately, with all the storms that happen. Luckily, everything is good apart from some leaks, everything is fine, thank you god!
Time is running at a 3-mile pace, and I'm sprinting to keep up. I'm already planning March. And April. Painting walls and doing the edits on this blog.
...What the hell!
Anotr is playing in the background: "I just wanna take my time..."
Yeah. Me too.
15 months since I last wrote
Look at the date on my last blog post. November 2024. Over a year ago.
You know why? Because I convinced myself that blog posts needed to be educational.
That people needed value. That I had to research, think, review, edit, polish, and perfect.
And then two weeks would pass. Then a month. Then suddenly it's February 2026, and I haven't written anything because I've been too busy doing to write about it.
I lost myself in that trap. The "it has to be perfect or don't publish it" trap. The "you're a wellness expert, so act like one" trap.
Sorry, my French, but I am tired of it, so F*ck that!
If everything needs to be educational, I'd never write anything. Because between researching blog posts, running a retreat center in the Alentejo countryside, I've been:
Fixing leaks
Finding people to work
Looking for design ideas and actually durable design pieces
Installing a new roof
Replacing all the AC units
Doing a complete kitchen facelift
Planning bathroom renovations for April
Bringing COLOR into this house (I'm so tired of white walls)
Ordering new furniture
Onboarding a new social media manager (because that's the one thing I genuinely can't do on top of everything else)
being a nurse
and have a little of a life in between.
And everywhere I look, I still see so much work to be done. But I know I'll get it done.
I always do.
The Irony Isn't Lost on Me
Here I am, founder of A Pausa —literally "The Pause"—and I'm in full octopus mode.
Today alone I:
Redesigned the entire website
Fired the pool guy
Onboarded the new pool guy
Wrote this blog post
Thought to myself: I'm not doing enough
LOL.
This is what I teach people NOT to do. And yet...
Saturn Meets Neptune and Solar Eclipse
(Or Whatever)
Apparently, today is significant. February 17th, 2026.
There's a solar eclipse in Aquarius.
And in three days, Saturn meets Neptune at 0° Aries for the first time in thousands of years.
A portal opening.
Dreams are becoming structured.
The astrology people are losing their minds about manifestation and new beginnings.
And here I am, firing a pool guy.
But maybe that's exactly the point.
It´s not about the Pool Guy
I felt terrible letting him go. Last year was a struggle—the water was never quite right, and every time I asked about it, the problem was always "the dust from Africa." Every. Single. Time.
I can be a nurse and understand zero about pool water, but the "dust from Africa" come on, man!
Finding competent workers in rural Alentejo is hard.
Finding ones you can trust? Even harder. So I stuck with him until I found someone better.
Today, the new guy started. I did the onboarding. Then I had to fire the old one.
I used every ounce of emotional intelligence I have. I didn't want to be rude. I didn't want confusion. And honestly? I didn't want a fight.
I had a list of 10 problems from last season. I could have laid them all out. But I knew he'd refute every single point. It would turn into an endless loop of defensiveness, and I'd leave feeling drained.
So instead, I started with heart:
"Thank you for your work this past year. I really appreciate it. But I'm restructuring right now, and I won't be needing your services going forward."
He was surprised. He had no idea. He even offered to clean the pool one last time.
"No, thank you."
He left. No fight. No arguments. No bad energy.
And now I'm sitting here with peace of mind, knowing I handled it well.
It´s not about the pool man, as it is more about my own peace, my own clarity, and the health of everyone coming to spend time with us. Does it start in the pool? No, not really, but it is a really important part of this place.
What Saturn-Neptune Actually Means
(For Me, Anyway)
Everyone's talking about this conjunction like it's about building dreams.
Taking action. Manifesting.
Last year, the retreats didn't happen. I had all these plans, but there were constraints.
With people. With timing. With capacity.
The programs are built.
The mission is clear. But I wasn't ready.
Maybe that's what this Saturn-Neptune moment actually is. Not just "make your dreams real"—but "stop waiting for perfect and just start."
The bathrooms aren't renovated yet. The walls are still too white. The furniture hasn't all arrived. But you know what? I'm not waiting anymore.
The wellness retreats are happening this year. The website is live. The new pool guy is here. The social media manager starts next week.
Saturn is structure. Neptune is spirit. And I'm finally learning that you don't need to have everything figured out before you begin.
You just need to begin.
The CEO Reality Nobody Talks About
This blog was supposed to be educational. "5 Tips to Slow Down" or whatever.
But honestly? There aren't that many people reading this anyway. So I'm changing the format.
From now on, I'm writing these like journal entries. Like letters to a friend. Real stories from running a wellness business in Portugal and what it's actually like to practice slow living while building a retreat center.
One post a month. That's my promise. Not polished. Not perfect. Just real.
Because the truth is: I'm not perfect at pausing. I forget constantly. I get stressed. I juggle too much. I fire pool guys, redesign websites, and plan three months while preaching be present.
But I'm practicing.
And maybe that's what A Pausa actually is.
Not perfection.
Not having it all figured out.
Just the willingness to come back to the couch, look at the pool, listen to the birds, breathe, and remember:
Oh. Right. This is why I'm doing all of this.
Until Next Month
I don't know what March will bring. Kitchen facelift construction, INSHALLAH!
More stress, definitely, but better coping - for sure!
A ski trip with my friends, finally!
But I'll keep coming back here.
To this couch.
To this land.
To the reminder that time doesn't have to run at 3-mile pace if I don't let it.
The portal is opening, apparently.
Saturn and Neptune are doing their thing.
The sun is eclipsing it.
Me?
I'm just trying to remember to breathe, to move, to meditate every morning, to hydrate and eat natural, unprocessed food, between all the doing, between all the planning.
See you next month,
Rebeca
CEO of Casa Koya | Still learning to pause
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