It was January 2021. The world was still dealing with COVID, everyone had spent far too long locked away, and we were desperately thinking of ways to escape the UK and do something different.
Through a chance connection, one of our partners had been introduced to a hotel owner in Belize who was looking to reopen their doors during the pandemic. We were offered the opportunity to take over the space and bring it back to life.
We had a few ideas about what we could do but eventually landed on something pretty simple. What if we brought together a group of people who could work remotely, live together and rediscover some of the human connection we'd all been missing and craving during lockdown.
So we came up with a slightly crazy plan. We rallied friends, put together our first founders' trip and threw the idea out into the world.
Before we knew it, Umaya Village was born.
The response was incredible. We were inundated with messages from people all over the world. Filmmakers, writers, programmers, entrepreneurs, breathwork coaches, musicians and people from every imaginable walk of life, all wanted to be part of it.
And somehow, despite travel restrictions, endless COVID tests and the logistical nightmare of getting across the world, they all began arriving at this little hotel on the beaches of Placencia, Belize.
What happened next was something none of us could have predicted.
People who had spent so long isolated from friends, family and community suddenly found themselves surrounded by strangers who quickly became friends. We worked together, ate together, explored together and started building something that felt much bigger than a remote working trip.
But one of the most important parts of that first experience was the relationship we built with the local community.
The people of Seine Bight, the nearby Garifuna village, became central to what we were building. We organised skill shares, connected people from the music industry with local Belizean artists, and started finding ways for everyone to learn from one another.
Every Thursday, we'd invite the local community up to the resort for volleyball and a locals' night. Many had never been invited onto the resort before, and it became one of the highlights of the week.
The locals would absolutely destroy us in the first volleyball game, generously let us win the second, then make sure they reminded us who was boss in the third.
Those evenings probably taught us as much about community as anything else we did.
We realised pretty quickly that we didn't just want to create a community of people who arrived from around the world. We wanted that community to become part of the place we were visiting, to contribute, learn, share and build genuine relationships with the people who called it home.
Over those first few months, through plenty of trial and error - mistakes, friendships and unforgettable experiences, the foundations of Noma Collective began to take shape.
So much of what Noma stands for today came from that first experience in Belize.
And Belize itself couldn't have been a more extraordinary place for it to happen.
It's a country unlike anywhere else. A place where ancient Maya cities sit deep within lush tropical jungles, where the coastline opens onto beautiful Caribbean beaches, islands and one of the world's most spectacular barrier reefs. Where Central America meets the Caribbean, cultures blend and the warmth of the people stays with you long after you've left.
But for us, Belize will always mean something more.
It's where a slightly mad idea became a community, where strangers became lifelong friends, and where we discovered what Noma Collective could really be.
And now we're bringing it back to where it all began.
Back to Placencia. Back to Belize. Back to the people and the place that helped make Noma what it is today.
A full-circle moment, and hopefully the beginning of another incredible chapter.
