New Home. New You: Why a Month Here Can Change More Than Your Address

When most people think about wellness, they picture a massage, a yoga class, a luxury spa, or maybe a green smoothie. I enjoy all of those things, but after spending most of my life here in Wine Country, I've come to believe we've defined wellness a little too narrowly.

I'm certainly no wellness expert, and I don't pretend to be. I'm simply someone who's fortunate enough to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and over the years I've discovered that many of the healthiest habits in my life have very little to do with gyms, diets, or wellness trends. Instead, they've come from spending time outdoors, cooking with fresh local ingredients, slowing down enough to enjoy a cup of coffee before the day begins, and making time for the people I care about.

Those habits didn't happen overnight. They became part of my life because I realized something simple: I don't do them because I think I should, I do them because I love the way they make me feel.

That's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about what we're building at The Joes. A Wine Country monthly rental isn't just a different place to sleep. It gives you something that's increasingly rare: enough time to settle into a healthier rhythm. Whether you're here for work, renovating your home, taking a sabbatical, or simply looking for a change of scenery, spending a month in Wine Country gives you the opportunity to experience this place the way locals do. And in my experience, that's when the real magic begins.

A New Place Creates New Possibilities

Researchers have identified something called the Fresh Start Effect, the idea that meaningful changes in our environment can make it easier to establish new habits. A move, a new job, the beginning of a new year, or even spending an extended period in a different place can help us break free from routines that no longer serve us.

I've experienced that countless times myself.

When you're living somewhere new, you naturally begin making different choices. You might walk to get coffee instead of driving. You might cook dinner instead of ordering takeout. You may find yourself watching the sunset rather than answering one more email. The little routines that define everyday life begin to shift, and sometimes those small changes end up making the biggest difference.

That's one of the things I love most about a monthly rental in Wine Country. You have enough time to stop acting like a tourist and start living like a local. You discover your favorite walking trail, your neighborhood coffee shop, and the farmers market where everyone seems to know one another. The pace changes, and often, so do you.

My Rule of Three

Whenever I decide it's time to focus a little more on my own health and wellness, I always have the same temptation: I want to change everything at once: exercise more, sleep more, eat healthier, read more, spend less time on my phone, meditate… It never works.

Over the years, I've learned to keep things much simpler. Instead of trying to overhaul my life overnight, I pick just three habits that I want to focus on. I call it my Rule of Three.

Three feels manageable. Three feels intentional. Most importantly, three gives me a realistic chance of creating habits that actually stick.

I've also noticed something interesting over the years. Wellness has a way of building on itself. Once those first few habits begin to feel natural, I find myself wanting to make other healthy choices. I'll start researching new ingredients for my morning smoothie, choosing the longer hiking trail, or drinking more water simply because I like how I feel. Before long, wellness isn't something I'm trying to accomplish. It's simply becoming part of how I live.

Move Through Nature

If you know me, you know I love to hike. Most of my hiking companions are my two dogs, Zeke, my Golden Retriever, and Koda, my German Shepherd. Zeke believes every hike should end with a swim, so our adventures almost always seem to wander down to the Russian River. He's almost impossible to wear out, so if we get home and he's completely exhausted, I figure we've both had a pretty good day.

For me, hiking has never been about burning calories. It's about clearing my head. Some of my best ideas have come while walking through the redwoods or along the river. It's one of the few times I'm not looking at a screen, and I always come home feeling calmer, more creative, and more grounded than when I left.

If hiking becomes one of your three habits, you're in the right place. Wine Country is home to incredible trails, from the peaceful forests of Riverfront Regional Park and Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve to the vineyard views of Sonoma Overlook Trail and the rolling hills of Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. If you'd like more ideas, I put together an entire article called Beyond the Tasting Room: Why Sonoma & Napa Wine Country Might Be a Hiker's Paradise, highlighting many of my favorite places to explore.

Eat Like a Local

One of the biggest differences between taking a vacation and living somewhere for a month is that you finally have time to cook.

Growing up in a big Italian family, food wasn't just something we ate, it was how we connected. Today, I still love planning dinner, and one of my favorite personal challenges is seeing how locally I can eat. What if, during your stay, you tried to build most of your meals using ingredients grown within about 100 miles? Here in Wine Country, that's surprisingly easy.

Our family grows a large garden, so dinner often starts with a walk outside to pick fresh herbs, vegetables, or berries. If you've never had an heirloom tomato picked warm from the vine, you're in for a treat. Add a little olive oil, flaky sea salt, and fresh basil, and you've got one of life's perfect meals.

Even if you don't have a garden, nearly every town hosts a weekly farmers market, making it easy to meet local farmers and discover what's in season. Markets like Oliver's have also become wonderful champions of local agriculture, highlighting thousands of locally produced products from Sonoma County farmers, ranchers, bakers, cheesemakers, and artisans.

Eating locally isn't about following a trend. It's about connecting more deeply with the place you're visiting and appreciating the incredible people who grow and produce its food.

Recovery Matters

When people think of wellness in Wine Country, spas often come to mind and for good reason. There are so many fantastic options but one of the places I always recommended during my years at the Farmhouse Inn was Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary. Their cedar enzyme bath is one of the most unique wellness experiences anywhere in California, and guests consistently came back saying it was one of the highlights of their trip.

If you're exploring Napa Valley, the famous mud baths in Calistoga remain a classic experience, whether you visit Indian Springs Calistoga, Dr. Wilkinson's Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs, or Solage, Auberge Resorts Collection.

But recovery doesn't have to mean booking a spa treatment. Sometimes recovery is an afternoon nap, a quiet walk through the vineyards, reading a great book on the porch, or simply giving yourself permission to slow down. In today's always-on world, that may be one of the greatest luxuries of all.

Put the Phone Down

If there's one habit I'm still working on, it's spending less time on my phone. Like many entrepreneurs, I convince myself I need to be constantly connected. The reality is that most emails can wait another hour, and most notifications aren't nearly as important as they feel in the moment.

One small habit I've started is leaving my phone in the other room when my family sits down to watch a show together in the evening. It's amazing how much more present I feel when I'm not tempted to check one more email or scroll through social media.

I'm still a work in progress, but I've learned that wellness isn't about being perfect. It's simply about creating a little more space for the things that matter most.

More Than a Beautiful Place

When I think about what makes a great Joe, I don't think about age, fitness, or even lifestyle. I think about mindset. To me, a Joe is someone who values experiences over possessions, relationships over schedules, curiosity over routine, and quality over quantity. Someone who's willing to try something new, slow down a little, and live a little more intentionally.

That's why I believe a 30-night + stay or Wine Country monthly rental offers something so different from a traditional vacation. It gives you enough time to build a few habits that might follow you home.

Nothing would make me happier than hearing from a guest six months after their stay telling me they're still taking morning walks, cooking dinner with their family more often, or leaving their phone in the other room because that's a habit they picked up while they were here. To me, that's the real measure of a successful stay.

Because sometimes the best souvenir isn't a bottle of wine or a beautiful photograph, it's returning home with a healthier routine, a clearer mind, and a few new habits that help you enjoy life just a little bit more.

I'll leave you with one simple challenge: If you could go somewhere and hit the reset button, what three new habits would you want to take on? Leave a comment below and let me know, I'd love to hear what they are.