The pandemic has seen many people experiment with working from home. However, we must not confuse WFH with smart working. "Smart" work is not following the same working rhythms at home rather than in the office, but it is choosing a different time organisation, with evaluation parameters that are not measured in hours, but in the achievement of objectives. This also allows you to be able to work in places other than your usual residence.
The aim is to aim for a better balance between work and personal life. It's a lifestyle that wants to combine the possibility of getting to know countries, cities and cultures not as a tourist, but as a temporary resident. It means moving to the places where the activities that interest us most are the protagonists, while continuing to carry out one's work "remotely".
I walk in the morning. I work in the afternoon
It is a trend that has been going on for years and which has been accelerated by the reflections of many people during the so-called "lockdowns". It can be declined in many ways, combining work with one's passions. For example, the Italian Davide Fiz, a 45-year-old freelance commercial, with 11 smart workers, has launched Smart Walking. Passionate about walking, in 2022, he will cover 20 trekking itineraries in 8 months, along 2,500 kilometers of paths. During the breaks in the places he has reached, he will carry out his work activity, all he needs is an internet connection. He will also take care of describing the local realities and the stories of the people he will meet on his blog: smartwalking.eu
The journey takes place in the morning, with stages of an average length of 20 kilometers and a duration of 4/5 hours. The itinerary starts from Southern Italy with the Cammino Materano and then moves to the Cammino del Salento and that of the Negro in Campania. It will then be the turn of Sardinia, Umbria, Lazio, Marche, Molise to continue in the summer in Northern Italy up to Friuli. The months of September and October will be dedicated to the paths, again in the South, in Sicily and Calabria.
The walk wants to be a praise to slowness, proposing at the same time, the discovery of communities away from mass tourism. A way of using technology consciously, to improve the quality of time, without being dominated by it, but living one's passions to the fullest.
Office on the Grand Canal
Those who, on the other hand, love art, culture and beauty, and want to work surrounded by monuments in that "timeless bubble" that is Venice. Now he has the possibility of finding accommodation thanks to a new platform (Venywhere) which promises to find accommodation for those who want to move to work for a few months with a view of the Grand Canal or strolling through the calli and campielli and temporarily becoming a Venetian citizen.
"Our mission - explains the Venywhere team - is to become the glue between remote workers and the city of Venice, offering the best possible experience in a totally sustainable way and in line with the Venetian ecosystem".
Similar territorial marketing proposals try to offer an eco-sustainable development alternative to the cities of art, which increasingly see residents leave the historic centers to rent apartments to tourists. This tourism, often "hit and run", has a significant environmental impact, especially in delicate places such as historic centres.
Instead, temporary rentals for a few months, linked to smart working, can try to reverse the trend by importing new citizens, albeit temporary, into the heart of the cities of art, and proposing an eco-compatible lifestyle.