The best way for “Finding Madeira”

Devin kindly revealed to The Portugal News more about the content, sharing that “Finding Madeira is written in the format of a love journal and that it explores some of the highlights of my journey to Madeira, so it does detail Funchal, Câmara de Lobos, Curral das Freiras and other high points on the island. It is about discovering her and her being the the island and how when you peel the layers and get familiar with other aspects and other areas of the island, you fall deeper in love with Madeira.”

He went on to add that, “This book is about carving out some of that heritage where you did not think you had heritage in certain places of the world. Finding Madeira will either inspire readers to visit Madeira or it will resonate with them if they have been before, and they will understand what I am saying.” Finding Madeira is also the “perfect accent piece for your coffee table at home, it is a quick read and has lots of photos to take you through the journey as well.”

Finding Madeira is a collection of photography and experiences from all the Madeira trips that Devin has gone on, with the author sharing that the first time he visited Madeira was in 2016 and that he has been to Madeira a handful of times since.

“Home Away From Home”

When asked what inspired Devin, he said “I had been to Madeira a handful of times and over the course of the years I had collected a lot of photos and started writing prose during my travels there. But, the more I visited Madeira, the more I discovered my home away from home on that special island. A similar feeling to the homecoming to the one I get when I visit the Azores where I have family ties.”

Devin shared, “It is the sheer beauty of the island that is very reminiscent similar to the Azores in some senses, the island kind of pace, the lifestyle, the culture there and honestly, just how welcoming and inclusive Madeira is as a whole, I found that no matter where you, there is something for everybody there and that is where I got that sense of everybody belongs in Madeira and I feel like at peace for myself and that is where I discovered my home away from home.”

An Important Book Foreword

Devin also highlighted that he did a photo shoot along the island with a photographer and that those little pieces tie into representing the Madeira lifestyle. He also wanted to include Madeira vendors in the book and give people a voice from Madeira, “This was a really important piece to me, to make it really a representative of what Madeira is, so the book foreword is written by a very prominent tour guide called Jeff de Gouveia who was the perfect representation of the essence of the story.”

Devin went on to explain that “Jeff is an entrepreneur who is originally from South Africa but he has family ties to Madeira and that he is inspiring for me because he returned to the island and he found a way to start his own business and live for himself so when I asked him to write the book's foreword, I told him that he is a good representation of what I aiming for as one of my life goals is to eventually move to the island and be self-sufficient and live off the resources of the beautiful land where you choose to go live and that is the heritage discovered that I tried to capture in Finding Madeira.”

Island Life

When asked to compare the Azores and Madeira, Devin explained that “I equate the Azores to very remote, a minimalist lifestyle and if you want to look at the other spectrum of that lifestyle you would go to Lisbon which is a fast-paced big city. I equate Madeira to something in the middle, there is something for everybody, so if you are looking for natural escarpments like hiking and whale watching, there is a lot of nature to explore, reminiscent of the Azores that is the slower pace of life and you can go up the mountain and just be in peace.

Otherwise, the contrast I find is reminiscent of Lisbon, there are aspects of the island that are more developed and there are more options if you want to go out and eat, if you want to go to the town, there are a lot more activities and festivals all year round. That is the best way I could describe it, Madeira is the in-between, the rural and the urban.

Versus the Azores, where at least I have only been to São Miguel with my family, it is similar in the sense of the islanders and the island way of life but when you look at the development on the island and the townships, there is a little less to explore, you find that you have seen the bulk of it in a couple of days whereas in Madeira there are lots of nooks and crannies that you haven't seen before.”

Copies of the brilliant Finding Madeira can be purchased on Amazon. For more information and to keep up to date with Devin Meireles, please visit https://lusoloonie.wordpress.com/. You can also find the author on Instagram at @LusoLoonie.

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes