The new Smart Villages — can you really get paid to freelance in Italy? 🇮🇹
Weekly curated tools + resources for writers — thinkers, makers and builders ✍️
Here’s to the new smart villages in Italy.🍷 🇮🇹 A number of towns have launched travel incentives — and will pay you to work from there.
Santa Fiora in Tuscany (the city of water and music) and Rieti in Lazio are both offering to cover up to 50% of your rent if you stay between two and six months as a remote worker.
Local rents are pretty cheap — €300–500 per month, so you could be paying around €150 a month to rent a cosy cottage or apartment in a beautiful village this summer.
Santa Fiora’s mayor, Federico Baloccchi, told CNN:
It’s not targeted at occasional touch-and-go tourists, but people who really want to experiment with our village life.
The goal is to incentivise people to move in and virtually work from here. We want Santa Fiora to become their flexible office.
It’s part of a 10-year development plan to revitalise rural areas which ‘is now more like 10 days [thanks to Covid] so we’re getting on with it.’ Phase one focuses on connectivity and tech and getting workers and firms in — to capitalise on the trend of people wanting space and moving out of urban centres.
And if you fall in love and decide to invest in tourism there, they’ll give you up to €30,000 to open a B&B, hostel or hotel.
I asked about eligibility for freelancers, age/earnings cap etc and ‘it is open to anyone in possession of a smart work job’. Pensioners welcome 😉 as long as you can show you’re working as an online consultant or indie contractor.
A great way to dip your toe in the water and test out Smart Village life.
What do you think, Mac? Could be fun and frothy 🐶 Feasting on roasted chestnuts and Montecucco wine.
Sea you there?
Apply here → Santa Fiora Turismo.
Other places to work different → Visit Tuscany.
Remote worker visas and opportunities →
Fueling the future of location-flexible work.
Antigua + Barbuda → Nomad Digital Residence for up to two years. 365 beaches in a year?
Barbados → Work from paradise. 12 month Barbados Welcome Stamp.
Costa Rica → Freelancer visa called the for up to two years.
Croatia → One year digital nomad visa. Currently hosting their first ‘Digital Nomad in Residence’ competition. 10 nomads will present how Dubrovnik can be a ‘digital nomad friendly city.’
Canary Islands → Launched a €500,000 campaign to lure 30,000 remote workers to the islands over the next five years: The office with the world’s best climate.
Dubai → one-year virtual working programme (and bring your family).
Madeira → a new Digital Nomad Village for minimum one-month stays. Portugal also has a residence permit for indie workers and entrepreneurs.
Mauritius → a renewable one year premium visa for nomads (no fee!) 😍
Interesting huh. Many more nations will follow suit and compete for citizens as Japanese technologist Tsugio Makimoto predicted 20 years ago — and he digs into the microelectronics and products that enable nomadism.
Can you still buy a house in Italy for €1?
Technically, yes — but the houses are put to auction where people can bid on them. Some sell for €1, the average €5,000 — & then you have to pay for the renovations (say €20,000) within three years.
Rubia Daniels was one of the first to buy a bargain-priced house in Mussomeli, Sicily, in 2019 and bought two more for her children. So far, she’s helped 20 people buy homes out there and hopes to take another group in June. She didn’t intend to buy that many houses, but ‘it’s how the people make you feel that makes you say, ok, I’ll buy three.’
Already 100 people have bought a house, what are you waiting for? — Case1euro.it
Not for the faint-hearted but a hugely rewarding project — an investment in yourself, your family, and a new business opportunity (I’ve seen €1 houses in France and Croatia too).
→ Here’s how it works.
→ 1 Euro Houses Italy map
London Writers’ Salon: The future of newsletters & publishing w/Substack’s Hamish McKenzie →
London Writers’ Salon spoke to Hamish McKenzie about his writing, the future of journalism and being co-founder of a tech startup, Substack.
Great brain food 🧠 Raw, revealing and honest — he’s no tech bro. Appreciate his vulnerability on his burnout at Tesla — engineers picking over his work, his confidence took a hit and it took him a while to come back. On the stresses of being a founder, which he describes as ‘psychological torture’. The Substack soap opera rolls on — their employees have had online abuse.
He comes across as someone who cares deeply about the future of writing and wants to create a thriving ecosystem for media based on a trusted relationship between reader & writer — rather than clickbait.
Substack is here to give the media ecosystem more options, not replace it.
He looked exhausted (it was 6 am in Wellington) and needs a break. I wanted to give him a big hug! So 👏 to Matt and Parul for a sensitive interview and giving him space to relax and open up. Refreshing for him to be asked about his writing journey and challenges rather than how to support everyone else’s.
On what writers can learn from startup culture
Put something out there, get feedback, tweak, adjust, don’t give up! Nothing important is ever easy or worth doing — stay focused.
It’s not self-promotion but giving yourself a promotion. Find the joy in marketing. You can’t be of service to this world if people don’t know you exist.
🔥 People & Company is joining the Substack team to work on community upstart efforts for writers in its network. Spark the flame, stoke the fire, and pass the torch.
Watch it here. From menopause to McDonald’s: all topics are fair game at London Writers’ Salon, and they’ve built a brilliant online community. Join their Writers’ Hour Daily Writing Sprints.
Journeys In Sound →
Playlist of the week: John Grant
This is your mind at work →
Tools + resources →
✍️ How to open up and create better work: An introvert’s guide to a more collaborative writing process. ‘As a UX writer, sharing early saves me time and breeds creativity.’
💡Hybrid vs remote work: everyone’s looking at big tech to see what they do next, but they’re all making it up on the fly. If you’re considering your options, here’s an open source resource that shows what firms are doing — thanks to Andy for sharing.
🚢 Build an online writing habit in 30 days. Redefining the meaning of online community, Substack take note! Writing alone is hard; writing with a community is easier. Love this concept — thanks to Lauren for the tip-off.
🌵 Burnout in Tech — Part 1: Declaring war. Actionable steps to fight it for yourself and others.
💰 Twitter is rolling out a new tip jar feature to help you get paid for your tweets.
Happy hugging and café working! 🤗
The future of work is now
Let’s build it. The Shift is a weekly newsletter celebrating writing, good design, creativity, flexible working, growth, travel, and online communities. If you enjoy the content, please like it and share with friends. Thanks for reading!
Work Better. Live Smarter. Be Happier.
Question or comment? Email nicci@niccitalbot.io.
Was this helpful? I’m powered by caffeine and Amaretti biscuits.
You can listen to this post here.
Originally published at https://niccitalbot.io on May 16, 2021.
