Il Raccolto - The Yield
Il Raccolto - The Yield
Via della Cella, 6, Usigliano, Province of Pisa, Italy
Up to 12 in group
Oct 11 - 17, 2026
Retreat Highlights
- Harvest the olives from an Olive grove in the Tuscan hills.
- Press and taste oil made the same day.
- Move through the week with morning yoga, daily group coaching, and long slow meals.
- The coaching is the thread running through the week — structured sessions that use the harvest itself as the frame: what you're clearing, what you're keeping, what you're ready to grow.
- A small group — maximum 12 — at a private villa with a pool, yoga studio, and six hectares of land. Guided by a coach who left a 25-year corporate career to build this life here.
About this Retreat
Your Guides
I spent 25 years managing security and political risk across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Russia, and the Caspian. I left in December 2025 to do something different.
I now split my time between Tuscany, Belgium, and the UK. In Tuscany, at La Villa nell'Isola Verde, I run retreats built around the olive harvest and the rhythms of the land. I am a trained coach. I write about the messy, honest process of changing your life on Medium and Substack.
The people I work with are usually at a turning point — a career that no longer fits, a version of themselves they've outgrown, a gap between where they are and where they want to be. I know that territory from the inside.
My coaching draws on 25 years of working in complex, high-stakes environments — and on my experience of rebuilding a different life. I ask the questions that help you find your own answers.
Medium: lifeunwound.medium.com
Substack: substack.com/@saltynsweetpopcorn
Details of this retreat
Most retreats ask you to slow down and do nothing.
This one asks you to slow down, reflect and pick olives.
Seven days at a hilltop villa in Tuscany. The house is yours for the week - 10 guests, plus Anna and Charlie. No-one else.
Mornings in an olive grove, harvesting by hand. The physical work is the point. By the end of the first morning, nature brings you back into focus.
Eat well, sleep well, and talk honestly with a small group of people doing the same thing. On Friday morning, you take the olives you picked to the local press and watch them become oil. You leave with a bottle. A unique experience to harvest your own oil.
La Villa nell'Isola Verde has a pool, a yoga studio, and plenty of quiet spots. There is time to enjoy the house and the surroundings.
There's a little pre-work needed. Come with something on your mind. See what the week brings you. Every guest has private 1:1 coaching sessions with Charlie. A chance to see what your harvest could be. You will be asked to share what your action forward will be. Of course it’s up to you how you choose to say.
In between: yoga, a cooking lesson, time to reflect and explore and a celebration dinner.
Sometimes nature means that the hard work does not bear any yield. In years where the crop fails, we find other work for the land and the week.
Who this is for:
People who are at a turning point. People who feel the gap between the life they are living and the one they want. People who do their best thinking when their hands are busy and their phones are away.
You don't need to be fit, experienced, or Italian. You need to be willing to work, eat well, and be honest with yourself for a week.
Maximum 10 guests. The retreat is deliberately small.
This one asks you to slow down, reflect and pick olives.
Seven days at a hilltop villa in Tuscany. The house is yours for the week - 10 guests, plus Anna and Charlie. No-one else.
Mornings in an olive grove, harvesting by hand. The physical work is the point. By the end of the first morning, nature brings you back into focus.
Eat well, sleep well, and talk honestly with a small group of people doing the same thing. On Friday morning, you take the olives you picked to the local press and watch them become oil. You leave with a bottle. A unique experience to harvest your own oil.
La Villa nell'Isola Verde has a pool, a yoga studio, and plenty of quiet spots. There is time to enjoy the house and the surroundings.
There's a little pre-work needed. Come with something on your mind. See what the week brings you. Every guest has private 1:1 coaching sessions with Charlie. A chance to see what your harvest could be. You will be asked to share what your action forward will be. Of course it’s up to you how you choose to say.
In between: yoga, a cooking lesson, time to reflect and explore and a celebration dinner.
Sometimes nature means that the hard work does not bear any yield. In years where the crop fails, we find other work for the land and the week.
Who this is for:
People who are at a turning point. People who feel the gap between the life they are living and the one they want. People who do their best thinking when their hands are busy and their phones are away.
You don't need to be fit, experienced, or Italian. You need to be willing to work, eat well, and be honest with yourself for a week.
Maximum 10 guests. The retreat is deliberately small.
Schedule
7:30 — Morning yoga (yoga studio or grove, weather depending)
9:00 — Breakfast
10:00 — Olive harvest in the grove
13:00 — Lunch
15:00 — Free time (pool, walking, rest)
17:00 — Group reflection / coaching session
19:30 — Dinner
21:00 — Evening wind-down
9:00 — Breakfast
10:00 — Olive harvest in the grove
13:00 — Lunch
15:00 — Free time (pool, walking, rest)
17:00 — Group reflection / coaching session
19:30 — Dinner
21:00 — Evening wind-down
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change
Getting Here
La Villa nell'Isola Verde, Via della Cella, 6, Usigliano, Province of Pisa, Italy
Directions
Nearest airport Pisa Galileo Galilei Airport (PSA) - Taxi $70-100 - 35 minutes, alternatively hire a car for the week. Alternative Florence Peretola Airport (FLR) 1 hour 10 minutes.
Accommodation
The villa accommodates up to 10 guests across five bedrooms with five bathrooms, a dedicated yoga and meditation studio for up to 16 people, and a 10x5m swimming pool.
Standard Room Sharing
Standard Room Solo
Premium en-suite — sharing
Premium en-suite — solo
Venue & Amenities
A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi
Spa
Sauna
Pool
Towels
Free Parking
Kitchen
Tour Assistance
Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea
Cafe
Restaurant
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent
La Villa nell'Isola Verde sits in six hectares of private olive and fruit gardens, overlooking the green hills and the medieval castle town of Lari.
What the villa offers:
Yoga and meditation studio
Swimming pool
Six hectares of olive trees, fruit trees
What the villa offers:
Yoga and meditation studio
Swimming pool
Six hectares of olive trees, fruit trees
Meals
Menu Types
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescetarian
Ayurvedic
Includes Meat
Organic
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
Typical quality Tuscan Kitchen. Emphasis on products from the local area.
What's Included
- 6 nights' accommodation at La Villa nell'Isola Verde.
- All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at the villa — communal, local, and seasonal.
- Wine with meals.
- The olive harvesting and mill visit at the Frantoio on Friday morning.
- Daily morning intention sessions.
- A wine tasting and cooking lesson on Tuesday.
- A celebration dinner on Friday evening.
- Yoga session.
- Individual 1:1 coaching sessions with Charlie Weeks.
- Your bottle of LifeUnwound olive oil, pressed on the final morning.
- Maximum 12 people including Charlie and Anna.
What's Not Included
- Flights.
- Travel insurance.
- Transport to and from the villa.
- Wednesday evening dinner in Florence
- Alcoholic drinks, with the exception of wine served with meals.
- Personal spending.
- Any additional 1:1 coaching sessions booked beyond the retreat programme.
- Local transport during the week (car sharing coordinated).
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