«I had lost my job and money, but now I no longer envy friends, aperitifs and shopping»

«I am originally from Milan, I lived in the city for 40 years, I would never go back, that’s for sure»: Paolo Goglio has lived in a camping, in Oggiono, near Lecco, overlooking Lake Annone. A television and web producer, the 2008 financial crisis took away his clients and work. “It takes a moment and you’re knocked out.” Today he has a YouTube channel where he talks about his life, people who call him to ask him for advice, over three and a half million views, an alternative “village” project. The choice of campsite was dictated by necessity.

And today?
«Today is my life. When I go to visit a friend I only see a mountain of useless space, which costs money, which needs to be cleaned. I changed the value axis. At the beginning I felt like an outcast, the TVs came and treated me a bit like an earthquake victim, today I feel great, I have eliminated hundreds of useless and expensive habits: at a certain point a lightness of life takes over, which you can reinvest. I’m not nostalgic for bars, aperitifs, shopping. Sometimes even cinema or theater are stop-gaps. I’m never bored here.”

“I’m going to live in a trailer.” The number of people choosing campers for the “cost of living” is increasing

Have you seen an increase in the population living in campsites in recent years?
“Yes. Here ten percent of the pitches are occupied by permanent residents. They do it for different reasons. There are pensioners (they were the “pioneers”), separated people, especially men, there are those who are desperate, there are those looking for a solution, there are those who want to make a life choice. Often at the beginning you look for an alternative that is dignified, and then this alternative becomes enviable. For this reason I am working on a village project with annual permanent pitches, a place of life for a community that seeks a certain lifestyle, based on sharing but also on respect for privacy. A campsite, but without the “useless” facilities of those who only come on holiday, such as the bowling green or the swimming pool. I’ve been working on it for a year and I already have hundreds of requests.”

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