Lifestyle - Italy as a Winter Destination?

Even though Finland is a fine place, I haven't ever really enjoyed winters. It wasn't that much of an issue before but during the last few years I have started to question it. Especially in a bad winter like this when you barely get any snow and it is just too warm, you start to ask yourself are there any alternatives.

Finland - Dreary Winter, Amazing Summer

I love winter sports, particularly skiing, but if there's not enough snow, there's no way to ski. And even if there was the midwinter cold is still painful as you rather stay inside than go out and face the -30 C (-22 F). That's even a bit much for cycling and not that healthy even.

It's the darkness that's the real issue. It brings your mood down and saps energy. Exercise helps somewhat but it's still very dreary. You likely have to experience it yourself to understand. It's a bit like living in a cave. If you get lucky, you might see the sun shining once per week for a brief period of time.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade the summers of Finland for a thing. They are just perfect. It's usually not too warm (around 15-20 C) and the amount of light is almost overwhelming. Even sleeping rhythm changes. During winter I sleep casually around ten hours per night. During summer I get by with something around seven or eight. And the energy levels are greater during summer!

Italy - A Winter Alternative?

I have visited Italy a couple of times during the fall. The sceneries are just stunning and I don't have anything to complain about weather. As far as I understand it can get painfully hot during the summer, though.

Given my work situation (a freelancer), it doesn't make much difference where I work from as long as I make enough money to get by. I'll be trying something a bit different during this winter. If everything goes well and the flights work out, I'll be moving to Italy, Sardinia tomorrow. I plan to spend at least a month there and keep it as a working holiday.

The weather doesn't seem overly bad, at least compared to Finland. There are of course a lot of question marks and I'll lose the familiar culture. On the other hand perhaps you have to lose your cultural context for a while in order to be able to appreciate it?

This will be a good time to reflect and think about the future. Contracting isn't the way to go. I will need to come up with more sustainable ways to generate wealth. Perhaps this is the perfect time to clear up some projects from my personal kanban and find a direction.

Conclusion

I'll try to blog a bit on-site. This means the nature of this blog will change for a while but I hope you don't mind. The whole trip is a big challenge for me and perhaps a turning point towards something better. Now just to hope everything goes well. :)