13/11/2021
Choose a home to your liking
Life begins with a person, his relationship with God and nature. Everything comes back to this. Today's trends are such that people tend to leave cities and return to nature, but return with new understanding and tools. It's time to develop a new type of tourism, "Coming to find a base for yourself consciously." This type of tourism should cover a range of issues from real estate and transportation to local language, customs and ecology.
The new type of tourism should be supplemented by local training courses for migrants, and be fast. Because any new trip for today may imply precisely the goal of “finding my home”. This idea is supported by the fact that the numbers of freelancers in the world and in Russia are growing.
Freelancers, whoever they are, are people who can afford to move freely while working remotely. The freelancing market today provides both the mobility of specialists and the accumulation of capital of a new quality. According to RosStat, in March 2021, after mass lay-offs and closings of enterprises, there were still more than 71 million economically active people in Russia. These people can be classified as freelancers in one way or another. And their number is several times higher than a year earlier.
According to a PwC study, there were 14 million freelancers in Russia in 2020, which is almost 20% of the total employed population. In 2019, there were only 5 million of them. The trend towards an increase in the number of freelancers is natural after mass lay-offs and closings over the past 3 years of the pandemic.
The global freelancing market is valued at $6.54 trillion and is expected to grow to $13.84 trillion by 2025. This is capital of a new quality. The Russian freelancing market, according to PwC experts, amounted to $41 billion, in 2025, according to forecasts, it will grow to $102 billion. By this indicator, Russia is among the top ten countries, and in terms of growth rates it ranks second in the world, behind only the United States. However, according to open data, international experts assess Russia's labor resources as exhausted and worn out. These are people who work 13 hours a day with almost no rest or healthy diet. However, they demonstrate endurance, resourcefulness, and survivability. This is the price of freedom to move in modern Russia, and this is the filling of the competencies of specialists from Russia.
Today we are talking about trends and readiness for them with Nicolò Reina, an employee of the Custonaci Tourist Office in Sicily.
- Hello, Nicolò.
- Hello Elena.
- Nicolò, in my view, Sicily is a great place to set up a base for an independent person. It is easy to find food here and not get cold. What do you think?
- Elena, Sicily has natural resources for life, which is why Sicily is called Paradise on earth. Natural resources are renewable resources like grass, mushrooms, trees, flowers, sheep's milk and wool, honey, everything created by God. All this feeds and dresses a person naturally.
- And Sicily is a place where people have never forgotten how to milk a sheep, unlike Russia, for example.
- Well, thanks to the Internet you can find out, not only how to milk a sheep, but also how, when and what herb to collect to make medicinal tea, spices, how to make homemade wine and cheese, how to make blankets, pillows, carpets and even clothes items from wool, how dried mycelium can become pieces of furniture. However, you are right that the Sicilians have been great craftsmen for generations, and they can be teachers for people from other regions.
- I would like to have a piece of land next to my house in order to grow everything I need on it, and this goes well with working through the Internet. By doing your own things, you can save money, learn to do more efficiently, and you can exchange goods and services with other people. This is not the same as industrial-scale vineyards. People want to work for themselves today and enjoy life. They are tired of being urban industrial slaves.
- Well, such a desire is quite expected and justified by all the events taking place on earth. Today, such a "base for an independent life" looks like Noah's ark in a new way.
- It looks like this. And for many, the next question arises: where, in what climate and in what area do they want their ark? As in the days of Noah, so now, God wants everyone to be happy, healthy and successful, and He lets everyone think about where it is best for him to expect an encounter with the inevitable. This should be a place that everyone in their own way perceives as a heavenly place for him or her, where every talent will be revealed to the end, since the last times will require the application of all efforts.
- For you and me, such a place is Sicily. And not only for you and me. I have not met a Sicilian, in whatever country he lived, that he did not say about Sicily that this is a heavenly place.
- I can say the same. However, let's figure out what is behind these words. The first thing that catches my eye is that Sicily is not only amazingly balanced and rich in nature, but also it is people.
- Sicilians, in essence, are intuitive, sincere, generous, creative, ardent people. They themselves admit that they are soul-people.
- From experience, I can say that these qualities are good for people with the same qualities. But for those who are accustomed to counting and dividing, applying flat rationality, Sicily does not look like a heavenly place. Quite the opposite. Rational people with flat logic regard Sicily as a backyard and Sicilians as difficult to manage. For flat-minded, rational people, Berlin may rather look like a heavenly place.
- May be.
- And for emotional-practical people who love luxury and power, Sicily will not look like a heavenly place either. They may rather like Spain or Nice, for example, or even London. Please, be attentive to yourself, do not choose a place that cannot become heaven for you.
- When choosing a heavenly place, please also keep in mind that even if you have chosen the right place, it will take several years to adapt to the new conditions. This includes adapting to climate, rural life, local language and customs. You will need a whole school of new knowledge to get things right.
- Okay, we looked at the situation through the eyes of those who want to move. Now let's take a look through the eyes of those who live where people want to move. For example, Sicilians will be happy to have new tenants in their empty houses in small towns and villages. This is evidenced by the announcement of the sale of such houses for 1 euro in a number of settlements of Sicily.
- It is obvious. However, it should be borne in mind that Sicilians, as local residents, community members, citizens of Sicily, Italy and the European Union, have an entire set of indicators by which they will determine whether they want to accept certain newcomers or not.
- It is natural. If the newcomers think like: "Who will give me work there?", they will not succeed. People should be able to organize their own work for the benefit of the local community. And here the unique talent of person and the blessing of God are the main advantages.
- Of course, people will not feel in paradise if they accumulate consumer discontent. But if they offer their services, competencies and their products, which can definitely complement what the locals already have, it will be good for everyone.
- This idea should be highlighted: if the moving people will create a new headache for the local residents and the mayor, no one needs it. Therefore, please get to know the locals and the mayor well in advance, understand the main merits of the place, and think about how you can contribute to the prosperity of the place. You, after all, are moving for this purpose.
- It should also be noted that in Sicily, life in a city on the coast is different from life in a city on a mountain in the countryside. People should choose exactly what is right for them.
- As far as I know, according to the laws, self-employed workers can get a visa “lavoro autonomo” in order to live and work independently. But in order to obtain such a visa, they still need to have an invitation from a local organization. And this means that such an organization has to be found, met and agreed. And in this matter, as in any business, God help us.
- When choosing Sicily, you should know that Sicilians speak their own language, which is different from Italian. However, many Sicilians know Italian. Some Sicilians also know English. The life of the Sicilians is like life in a big friendly family, where everyone knows each other, helps and smiles affably.
- This is an important quality of life in Sicily, and it should be accepted with joy and not abused, because we say about a heavenly life. I think that local sayings, customs, etiquette and cuisine should be studied in advance, the Internet helps you in this matter.
- It will also be necessary to study local botany, soil science, ecology, the market for services and goods related to house improvement. For example, the prices of lumber can overwhelm you, and working with marble can surprise you.
- I remember the point of view of respected Sicilians: "Hospitality is a guarantee of safety." This is wise. In this case, the mayors of the Sicilian cities just have, please, to learn better how to select and invite useful specialists from among freelancers to develop their territories, so that freelancers can find a home where they will be happy to work freely according to their talent. No one will invest money without guarantees that he or she will be able to enjoy the desired benefits. And this is mutual. Thank you, Nicolò!
- Thank you, Elena!