A creative weekend
for quiet minds and busy hands.

March 20-22 | 1 hour from Lisbon, Portugal

For those in tech who live at speed: always on, never still.

Two days offline in the forest: creative workshops and space to breathe.

The Manual Break is where you unplug, slow down and make something real again.

Step back into your world carrying the quiet focus you found here.

Only 14 spots available. Pilot edition.

Join the first Manual Break

From speed to stillness

In tech, we’ve mastered speed and efficiency.
But in the race to perform, we’ve lost the slower rhythms that make us human.

The Manual Break is where that shifts:
a pilot for a small circle ready to step away from the noise, slow down and rediscover the focus that comes from making with your hands.

Bring a friend walking the same path, craving the same pause.

Not a retreat, but it may feel like one.

The Manual Break includes

Two creative workshops led by artists and craftspeople who live in the tangible world, curated by our friends at Portugal Manual (more details below).

More details below

Other creative corners and quiet spaces to explore at your own pace.

Also included:

  • All meals - locally sourced and thoughtfully prepared (with care for different dietary needs).

  • Shared rooms - bring a peer you’d love to spend slow, creative time with.

  • Forest surroundings - time to wander, breathe and hike at your own rhythm.

The Place

Retiro do Bosque, Portugal - just 1 hour from Lisbon.

A serene forest space designed for stillness and creation.


Large, light-filled rooms. Communal tables for slow meals.
Corners made for breathing, pausing, and letting time stretch.

Step outside and you’re surrounded by trails through the Natural Park of Rota dos Frades.

Just a few minutes away is the Museu de Aguarela Roque Gameiro, a watercolor museum shaped by this very landscape.
Nearby you will find the CAORG Weaving Atelier - home of the mantas mindericas, a traditional weaving technique still alive today.

This is the ground where The Manual Break unfolds:
a place where forest, craft and culture meet to slow you down.

Check the Place

The Workshops

Two hands-on workshops curated by our friends at Portugal Manual.

Each led by artists and craftspeople who carry tradition into the present; inviting you to slow down, learn, and create.

Arraiolos traditional tapestry with Susana Cereja

Portuguese artist Susana Cereja brings new life to the ancestral art of Arraiolos tapestry, blending heritage with innovation.

In her workshop, you’ll be guided through this centuries-old technique — stitching, shaping, and sharing in a relaxed, inspiring environment.

Monotype Screen Printing (Serigraphy) with FICA Oficina Criativa

This hands-on workshop blends manual painting with screen printing, creating expressive, one-of-a-kind pieces.
You’ll experiment with overlays, textures, and brushstrokes, working directly on the screen in a playful, intuitive way.
FICA, founded in Lisbon in 2016, is dedicated to keeping manual artistic techniques alive and accessible.

In both workshops, it’s not about perfection or performance.
It’s about the process: slowing your hands, quieting your mind and discovering the clarity that comes when your hands lead the way.

The experience

The Manual Break unfolds at a slower rhythm.
Enough structure to guide you.
Enough space to simply be.

Day 1 — Arrival & Welcome

  • Arrival at Retiro do Bosque

  • Welcome dinner around the communal table

  • Opening circle to set the tone for the days ahead

Day 2 — Hands & Stillness

  • Breakfast together

  • Morning creative workshop

  • Lunch and time to pause

  • Afternoon creative workshop

  • Space to hike, read or explore other creative corners at your own pace

  • Shared dinner

  • Quiet evening, space to breathe

Day 3 — Making & Closing

  • Breakfast and closing circle

  • Continue your creative art pieces or join other creative corners

  • Time to breathe, reflect, or visit nearby museums

  • Departure before lunch

Three days shaped not by schedules and deadlines,
but by hands, light, and the quiet of the forest.

Join the Manual Break now

Only 14 spots available!

Who's behind it

We’re Sal and Tiago, two Portuguese professionals who spent over a decade in Dublin’s big tech.

We know the rhythm: launches, performance reviews, and the constant demand to deliver more, faster.

And we also know the cost: creative energy slipping away, identity blurred by the rush, the quiet feeling that something essential is missing.

The Manual Break is our answer to that.
A way of holding both worlds in balance: the energy of innovation and the grounding of art, craft and the tangible.

Be part of the pilot edition
and take it home with you

You’ll leave not just with calm and focus, but with a small circle of peers from tech who get it. Together, you’ll carry home the quiet rhythm of the forest and the clarity that comes from creating with your hands.

Rooms are shared (double).

Come with a friend you’d love to spend quiet, creative time with or be paired with a like-minded peer.

All-inclusive - shared room:

  • 850€ per person

  • Bring your Plus One and complete the room (1700€ total)

All-inclusive - shared room:

Stay updated as The Manual Break comes to life.

Join the Quiet

What you do with your hands rewires your mind.