Escape from the Rat Race
From ‘downshifting’ to ‘albergo diffuso’
One of Italy’s smallest regions, the quiet rural backwater of Molise is beginning to lure refugees from the high-pressure lifestyles of the industrialised cities of northern Europe.
Often glossed over in a few pages in the guidebooks, Molise offers an uncontaminated nature with snow-capped mountains in the winter and sandy Adriatic beaches for the summer. In between lies an unspoilt landscape that provides a habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including wolves, deer and wild boar, and a therapy for nature-lovers seeking relief from the stresses of urban living.
Add attractive medieval hill-top towns, delicious agricultural products ranging from olive oil to wine and prized truffles, a proud local culinary tradition and hospitable people, and one can understand the allure of this corner of Italy where time seems to stand still.
A small colony of Dutch immigrants has already responded to the lure of the wild, moving to Molise some 10 years ago, before the concept of “downshifting” became fashionable. Downshifting is a social trend whereby individuals decide to abandon a materialistic lifestyle for a less stressful life elsewhere.
The concept was popularised by the British writer and broadcaster Tracey Smith, who founded International Downshifting Week in 2005.
Sietske and Hans Poorte put the theory into practice in 2001, when they moved to a farmhouse at Monteciccardo to open their own bed and breakfast. Besides a few tussles with the local bureaucracy, it has been worth it. “If you want harmony and quiet, this is the right place,” the Dutch couple told the magazine “Io Donna”.
Others have followed their example, sometimes accepting to work harder for less money, but rewarded by the chance to live life in a more human dimension and at a more natural pace.
That is also the idea behind the “albergo diffuso”, diffuse hotels that make use of rooms in existing buildings of artistic or architectural interest to provide high quality accommodation for travelers.
Local administrators hope the formula can work well in Molise’s lesser known towns and villages, preserving ancient houses from ruin, bringing life into depopulated areas and providing an extra source of income for locals otherwise mainly engaged in agriculture. The diffuse hotels can provide a first, intimate contact with the reality of a location and, who knows, some visitors may decide to stay permanently.
Source: Regione Molise, http://www.regione.molise.it/
