INTERVIEW: THE VINTAGE ROUND TOP + THE FERNWEH STUDIO
Paige Hull
We were so excited when Kirsten and Brandon Dickerson of The Fernweh Studio reached out to do a retreat with us during this past antique show! Smoot and I had met them years before when we toured their rental property, Green Acres, in Elgin, Texas. We’d been big fans of Kirsten’s fair trade retail business, Raven & Lily and Brandon’s directorial projects and knew this new venture would be just as amazing.
I had the opportunity to co-host the retreat with Kirsten and 13 incredible women. We shopped all day, dined on delicious organic locally sourced food, discussed intentional living and all things Round Top. The Fernweh Studio is offering a second shopping retreat during the upcoming spring 2020 show - click here for details.
In addition to partnering with them on the retreat, we will also be offering an exclusive collection of textiles in our online shop that Kirsten sourced from her recent trips to Morocco. Read more below about Kirsten and Brandon Dickerson’s background, what inspires them and a great list of tips on how to Live With Intention.
Tell us how you came to create The Fernweh Studio?
Over the past twenty-five years, I have discovered the best way to get over myself and fuel a passion for living thoughtfully and intentionally is to connect with cultures wonderfully different than my own. My husband and I have been married for over 22 years and have traveled to more than 40 countries between the two of us to film documentaries, to volunteer with humanitarian outreaches, and to develop artisan partnerships. As a result, we have insight, relationships, and a deep love for some very special countries around the world. The Fernweh Studio is an invitation to come to meet the people and places that have shaped our world view, opened our hearts and minds, and inspired us to live with more intention, thoughtfulness, and creativity. Fernweh is a German word that means, “a longing to travel, an aching to see the world.” We currently live in a little German town in the Texas Hill Country, so it seemed like the perfect word to capture the wanderlust we both have and want to share with others.
What makes The Fernweh Studio excursions different than other trips
someone might book?
The Fernweh Studio curates insider excursions around the globe that inspire slow living, responsible tourism, and sustainable design.
As travel radically changed my world view and lifestyle, I am now dedicated to encouraging others to also experience people and places that inspire and challenge us to live more thoughtfully, creatively, and intentionally.
My hope for creating The Fernweh Studio is to provide global experiences that can be a mutual, beneficial exchange - a force of good in the world for both the traveler and the host community.
The Fernweh Studio offers you life-changing global excursions
that help people and the planet through:
• Cross-cultural journeys that support artisans and fair trade
• A focus on creative, sustainable design through encounters with artists and architecture
• Support of non-profits that empower the local communities you connect with
• Promotion of conservation efforts for land, animals, and traditional cultures
Every traveler has the opportunity to fall in love with the unique culture we visit because of the incredible people and diverse places discovered - the less “touristy,” the better. Each curated excursion has a slant towards “insider” experiences that are authentic and relational - not pretentious.
How do you practice living with intention?
Do you have any helpful tips to give to our audience?
Whenever possible, we try to think about how our everyday choices impact people and the planet. Through our travels, we have seen first hand how we are connected to the people and places that make the products we use and purchase every day. We are a work in progress as a family, but we are trying to minimize any negative impact and focus on supporting fair trade, organic, and ethical whenever possible. We like to decorate with items that are soulful and tell a good story, and all of us have our own version/style of “ethical fashion.” In our everyday practice, we try to minimize waste, recycle as much as possible, compost scraps, support local farmers, ride our bikes, and live with intention.
As a major family experiment, we actually lived in a tiny home for 2 years as an exercise in living with less and getting out in nature more. We started a boutique glamping retreat near Austin, Texas, called Green Acres. I like to say that we “glamped” full time on 25 acres. We sold 80% of our belongings and lived in a 1944 Spartan Mansion Trailer with our daughter. Our son had his “room” next to us in a restored 1967 Airstream. We put up a few yurts, an eco-cabin, and utilized the old bard on the property as an open-air kitchen and community hang space. We made it a goal to only decorate with found objects, vintage, or artisan-made as much as possible. We found a ton of things from Craig’s list, including our donkeys, chickens, and alpacas! We had no idea what we were doing, but we committed to figuring it out as a family and invited others to stay on our property on weekends to “unplug and refresh.”
Today we continue to explore as a family what it means to live with intention, and we have some really fun ideas brewing for our future. We would love to continue to explore a retreat center or place that practices hospitality and focuses on conservation, community, the creative arts, and Christian contemplation. We will be empty nesters in less than 2 years, so we are dreaming and praying about the next step in our journey of living with intention. This time, we are looking at other countries to be our new home base, so stay tuned!
Some practical tips for your readers on “Living with Intention”:
• Shop local (I live in a town of 10,000, so it’s challenging but I do it as much as possible! You can too!)
• Support your farmer’s market
• Don’t go to the big box stores
• Follow daily feeds and apps like: The Good Trade, Good On You (resources for sustainable living)
• Watch Documentaries that will inspire you to live more intentionally: Biggest Little Farm, Serengeti Rules, Minimalism, and Call and Response to name a few (my husband co-directed that last one!)
• Get outside EVERY SINGLE DAY (even if it’s for a short walk or bike ride). Try “forest bathing”…basically just get out into nature, stop moving/talking and listen and be still. Let the beauty of the wind, nature, birds, etc…bring you peace. As a Christian, this is my favorite way to meditate and pray. There is so much to learn and receive from creation. It’s full of beauty and symbolism.
• Make a recycling section in your home and commit as a family to reducing waste. Our daughter has become a huge advocate for using metal or bamboo straws. She bought several for her friends to help them break their habits. It’s fun to see your kids get into reducing and reusing. Be creative and have fun.
• Set limits on your phone for using social media, etc, so you unplug and are present with the people and things that matter most. I have my phone limited to use from 8 am-9 pm. And my social media has a daily limiter. I don’t always follow it, but it helps!
• Don’t buy mass-produced anything that doesn’t have a commitment to sustainability for the way it treats the producers or where the materials are sourced. I promise you don’t need it and it won’t last. Buy less and buy items that tell a good story: clothing, food, decor, gifts. Pick one category and commit to only buying ethically and see how it goes. Then expand into other categories.
• Finally, try to read and/or journal on a daily basis and find a way to do something creative daily. Start small. I’m currently reading and watercoloring almost daily. I joined a local book club, but I also have a daily devotion and scripture reading. My friend Emily of Jones Design Company has inspired me to watercolor a little every day. I’m not very good, but I love it. I took her online course to get started. My husband does a daily log of what he did that day and loves to read about surfing and film. His creative outlet is often writing. Our daughter reads a little book of daily motivations every morning and night, and she’s always doing a little creative project (knitting or making jewelry).
How did you come about sourcing the products for THE VINTAGE ROUND TOP + THE FERNWEH STUDIO collection?
On the last Fernweh Studio trip to Marrakesh, I sourced many beautiful vintage rugs and textiles from one of my favorite rug collectors in the old Medina. I’m more of minimalist at heart, so I find it important to have pieces that are special and tell a good story like this collection from Morocco. I chose pieces that would work in a neutral color palette with some hints of deep red and terracotta. Each piece carries the craftsmanship and history of an artisan from this amazing country. The rugs are from various nomadic communities (desert and mountain areas) and the designs are filled with traditional symbols and meaning. They are entirely hand-woven and reflect the unique artistry of the maker. These textiles are very old and have probably been used to decorate a desert tent or mountain home. The pillows are made from beautiful old flatweave carpets as well. Each one is entirely unique and wonderful in its own way.
What have you seen recently in the realm of sustainable design that inspires you?
I actually fell head over heels for the curation of mid-century pieces from Eneby Home when I discovered them at The Compound during the Fall Antique Show in Round Top. I think my jaw dropped when I walked into their space. I loved every single piece because of its craftsmanship, design, and history. They have the most beautiful pieces from Sweden and other Northern European locations. So many modern companies are imitating these classic furniture designs of wood, leather, and metal. They are clean lines, but more approachable than other pieces from this era because of the materials used. They are one of my absolute favorites styles in furniture, and I think they are perhaps more beautiful because of their age. They are classic mid-century, but not a design that you see too often. My husband and I always love incorporating mid-century into our home decor. My style has been referred to as “rustic mid-century”, so I think that’s why the colors and styles from Eneby Home really spoke to my design aesthetic. I am keeping my eye on this company for some of my design projects for clients, but I had to buy a set of 12 Swedish pressed flowers from 1916 from them. I’m a Texas Master Naturalist, so finding a set of vintage Swedish pressed flowers was a dream come true for combining my loves and heritage.
What are the next excursions you have planned?
I currently have 8 fabulous destinations planned for next year: Cambodia, Oaxaca, Morocco, Peru, Kenya, Italy, India, and of course Round Top!
We’re recruiting female travelers who are thoughtful, adventurous, and fun-loving to join a 2020 Fernweh Studio Excursion. And I know we’re excited to see who will join our special annual retreat at The Vintage Round Top, March 22-25, 2020, during the Spring Antiques Show.
You can find details for each trip on the website here.
