Magari is alive and well! Post-biketour impressions

Hi all here's a quick update after the biketour in France.
We had a good time and, having decided to focus only on a few regions (notably Creuse et plateau de millevaches), the cycling was not too intense.
The size of the group was fluctuating around 10 at all times, which was a good number to be able to experience group dynamics and at the same time to still be received by hosts without too many complications.
We tried to do too much in this trip (building our group, visiting hosts in the region, looking for land or houses, having a biking holiday, recuperating and cooking food) and individual expectations were sometimes different (from those coming just for a holiday, to those wanting to buy land... to mention the extremes of the spectrum). Nonetheless getting into motion and doing something together helped us to learn a lot about ourselves.

NO, we did not find a place to buy straight away... although we liked the areas and saw great potential there..
YES, we decided that we want to start something together and we'll keep searching, but that we still need to work on the group (both improving communication and connection between existing members and also finding new members) and on ourselves individually (some of us are eager to do some practical experiences in the countryside in the next months).

We learned about the importance of communication within groups and the necessity for us to improve it (learning facilitation, consensus/consent decision making, non-violent communication etc...)
We discussed a lot on our common vision and learned that (as obvious as it may seem) it is quite difficult for everyone to be 100% in agreement with a text... and that more work is needed. We understood moreover that trust is important and it can be built better by doing something practical together. Otherwise it's only intellectual words in our heads.. One of the current ideas is find a place for the group (or at least for a part of it) to live together and do some activity similar to those we envisage to do in the future together (food production, construction etc..). This place should come for free or with a low cost and would be an intermediate step, helping us, as a group, to get ready to buy something that has the full potential that we seek.

So, Magari is alive and in full evolution.

Some of us are still biking but we are soon starting again having periodic calls.
The next milestone is an event in the first half of November. We will meet somewhere in the Northwest of Italy (it will be "static" this time) for a few days of discussions, activities, workshops.. with the goal of reinforcing the trust between each other and to also get to know new people.

To join the calls or the November event write us at magari((at))eauchat.org.