A snail mail club from VOYAGE ✦ One destination a month
Staycation Social ClubSomewhere new, by post
Once a month I write you a letter from somewhere I love, and send along everything you need to spend an evening there without leaving the house.
From Ophelia
The thing I miss most after a trip is never the view. It’s dinner.
Thirty years and about eighty countries in, what stays with me isn’t the landmark. It’s the plate of something a woman in a tiny kitchen insisted I try. The song drifting out of a window. The small habit a stranger taught me that I still do at home without thinking.
Staycation Social Club is how I send those things to you. Every month I choose a place, sit down with good paper, and write you a letter about it, the way I’d write to a friend who couldn’t come along. Then I tuck in the recipe, the music, and the little rituals that make the room feel like somewhere else for a night.
You need a free evening and a stove. Company is optional. Some of my best nights abroad were at a table for one.
Ophelia
What’s in the envelope
One place, five ways in.
A letter from me
Illustrated for the month’s destination and written like I’m writing to you, because I am. Where I was, who fed me, what I got wrong, and the one thing I’d tell you to do first.
A recipe true to the place
One dish that tastes like where we’re going. The real version, written for a home kitchen, not a restaurant line.
A playlist for the evening
On Apple Music and Spotify. Press play when the pan heats up and let it run through dessert.
Goodies & rituals
A short list of things to pick up, pour, light, or do so the room stops feeling like your living room. Some are small purchases. Some cost nothing at all.
The cooking class Members only
A digital class that walks through the month’s recipe step by step, so you’re never alone with an instruction like “cook until it looks right.” Plus other exclusive extras I save for the club.
- Membership
- $10a month
- Destinations
- 1new every month
- In every letter
- 4printed pieces
- Online
- 1cooking class to follow
How the evening goes
A whole trip, somewhere between the mailbox and midnight.
When it arrives
Open the letter first
Before the recipe, before the list. Make a cup of something and read it properly. It sets the scene.
A day or two later
Gather the goods
Shop the recipe and whatever from the rituals list calls to you. This is the packing part, minus the suitcase.
Early evening
Press play, start cooking
Put the playlist on and open the class. Cook along with it, pause it, burn the garlic once. That’s tradition.
Later
Stay a while
Light the candle, pour the second glass, do the ritual. Nobody is checking you out of the room at eleven.
Why a letter
Nobody gets excited about an email. A letter, though.
I wanted this to be the one thing in your mailbox that isn’t a bill or a catalog. Something you open slowly, keep on the fridge, and maybe tuck into a cookbook. It’s paper on purpose.
The kind of places we go
Wherever I’ve eaten well and wanted to go back.
The club started with Italy and Greece, the two places I know best (I lived in Greece, and I’ve lost count of my Italy trips). From there it wanders. The destination stays a surprise until the envelope lands.
Membership
$10/ month
- An illustrated letter from me, by post
- A recipe true to the month’s destination
- A playlist on Apple Music and Spotify
- A list of goodies and rituals for the evening
- The members-only cooking class and digital extras
Sending it to someone else?
Put their address in at checkout and the letters go straight to them. It’s the rare gift that shows up again next month.
Questions
Before you join
What exactly comes in the mail?
A printed envelope with an illustrated letter from me, the month’s recipe, the playlist (with a way to open it on Apple Music or Spotify), and a list of goodies and rituals for the evening. It’s paper, not a box of products, which is how it stays at $10.
How do I get the cooking class?
The class and other digital extras are for members only. Your letter tells you where to find that month’s class, and you can watch it whenever you’re ready to cook.
Do I need special ingredients?
The recipes are written for a home kitchen. If something is hard to find, I’ll tell you what to use instead so you’re not driving to four stores for one leaf.
Do I need a music subscription?
The playlist lives on Apple Music and Spotify. Spotify’s free tier works fine; you’ll just hear the occasional ad between songs.
Can I choose the destination?
No, and that’s half the fun. Part of travel is going somewhere you wouldn’t have picked. If there’s a place you’d love to see in the club, write to me at ophelia@voyagebywren.com. I read every one.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. Add the recipient’s address at checkout and the letters go to them each month.
How do I cancel?
You can manage or cancel your membership from your account on this site, or email me and I’ll take care of it.
Staycation Social Club
Your next trip fits in a mailbox.
Ten dollars a month. One place. One very good evening.
Join the club