Portugal stole our hearts. The people, the landscapes, the smells, the ability to make simple things beautiful, the pace of life, the light that makes photographs magical. We were unprepared, and we will never forget. This is the stretch of beach where we picked up these rocks, outside Peniche: 39.409983, -9.261662. Peniche is a laid back surfer town, with plenty of crowds in the summer but relatively empty during the off-season when we lived amongst those seaside cliffs outside town.

This collection represents adventure and exploration in its purest state. We worked on realizing our van life dream for years, but it was only in Portugal that we began to live that dream, to wake up next to the beach and watch the sunrise, to run through beautiful cobblestone streets with new friends shooting rolls of 35mm film, to camp on remote islands and hike through dry forests of Eucalyptus waiting to ignite.

These stones are the smoothest of all the Grit Rocks and like all great beach stones, they really shine and show their true colors only when they come into contact with water. They carry the energy of the waves with them, that rhythmic sound of water lapping on a distant shore. The new Grit Rock necklace Dana has been wearing in recent videos is from this collection because the stones are soft but strong, they remind us of the ocean, and that good things are worth working for.

Here’s a Playlist with all our videos from Portugal to see what inspired this collection.

What’s in the box: Each Grit Rock purchase comes with 1 sterling silver chain (18 inches), 2 Ody stickers, 2 Wild We Roam flag stickers, 1 handwritten thank you note, and 3 affirmations.