What's happening to us?

(The video here below has english subtitles - if you by chance don´t understand Czech, turn them on!)

We live in the Greek wilderness in the northern Peloponnese. In the high mountains, half an hour from the sea. In a house that is not connected to any power grid.

With our three little ones (7, 5 and 1 year old). With the most wonderful neighbours far and wide. And with friends around.

Amazing. Alive. Bubbling.

And very challenging...

Why are we asking for financial help ?

We've had our first winter. Temperatures have been similar to Bohemia in the Highlands, with occasional freezing rain and snow. We are at an altitude of 750 metres, surrounded by two thousand metres of mountains. We have a house on the property - a former warehouse that no one has ever lived in. It has only one big room, and that's where we live now. It's an unplastered brick building, concrete floor, single-pane windows with gaps, metal doors, no insulation anywhere. Only cold water running. Indoor temperature in winter is about 10 degrees. It's just a hair higher when the heat's on. Spartan conditions! ( The ancient city of Sparta is a stone's throw away.) We've got solariums and stoves, we've done all sorts of modifications.

Ironically, the children didn't complain at all, they were wonderful. Probably because we consciously put the wellbeing of the family first. When the parents are well, the children are well... Do things slowly, take your time, don't be a slave to your dream. Strengthening relationships and being together, instead of the perfection of the environment.

With all the construction so far, we've reached our financial edge this year. We don't have the money to make any more improvements to the house this year. Therefore, we are asking for support.

We have a big wish - to spend the coming winter inside without a coat! If you support us, it will be a very WARM gift indeed.

This is what we will do if we raise money

We have friends around here, some of them are skilled carpenters, joiners, builders. They have offered to help us with anything we need for free. And that it would be done by winter (or October/November). If we buy the materials, we can get started right away.

Specifically, we plan to:

1) Insulate the whole house. I.e. wooden structure around the outside walls, straw+clay infill. Same for the ceiling from above.

2) New windows and doors. Knock new holes in the walls and refit everything, eight windows plus five doors in total.

3) Closing the terrace with a wall. Two new rooms will be created - a small bedroom and a bathroom.

4) Floors! Partly wooden, partly clay. All insulated.

5) Hot water! Sometimes you don't know the value of these things until you don't have them...

Of course - the budget for all this seems to far exceed the amount we're asking for. But not quite. We consulted the locals about everything (they're actually from all over Europe) and they know how to do things very low-cost. For example, we use some older windows from salvage yards, the same with doors, we recycle old materials.

If we choose the amount, it is realistic that all the items on our list will become reality.

Why did we fly south in the first place?

We've lived together in the Czech Republic for the last ten years. We think it is the most beautiful country to live in, in many ways. If we look a bit from a distance, we don't understand people who are always grumbling about something in the Czech Republic (of course - there is always something to grumble about, not that there isn't!). In our opinion, the Czech Republic is a paradise.

But - Marta is a pure Italian and she has blood in her body with a blue tint of... the sea! And there is not much of that in the Czech Republic yet. If Marta were to die one day with the fact that she hasn't fulfilled her greatest dream (to live by the sea), it's impossible...

What does Michal say? "We have a wonderful life in Bohemia - comfort, peace, security. A beautiful trajectory to retirement. But life has suddenly offered a completely different card - and there are things on it that have always attracted me a lot and that go to the core, to the true essence of being."

So we went for it.

We grew through the discomfort. Kids watch everything, they suck it up, they copy - there's nothing to do but be as good as possible. We fall on our mouths and float in the clouds. The cure is nirvana. We have to knock... it's even so far.

There's a lot to talk about, we'll definitely write and share more about it all, but that's sometime in the future when there's a little more space.

On a technical note... those rewards!

It's a trend these days. It even has its own name: rewards crowdfunding. For a donation, the contributor gets some sort of reward, from small to large, depending on the amount of the donation. We find this appealing. Supporting the creation of a CD and then going for coffee with a band member... dream!

However - we don't have rewards. Instead, we offer... ourselves :-)

Come and hang out!

Whoever contributes, can come! :-)

Well... actually... (we probably shouldn't say that...) you can come even if you don't contribute :-)

We have an acre of land, an apple and plum orchard, a walnut grove, a meadow, a river... plenty of places to pitch a tent and rest in the bosom of nature. If you don't mind really basic conditions, feel free to come. Or come and help. There are often volunteers from all over Europe, we act as hosts in the Workaway program, you can find our profile here.

There's a couple living next door - Steven (from Belgium) and Chenny (from Holland). They've lived here for 12 years and have built their own little piece of paradise, from scratch. They named it Liveloula. Natural buildings, a few permaculture gardens, poultry farming... they are professionals who have been training in this field, organizing workshops and seminars. Without them, we wouldn't even be here - in fact, since a certain point we stopped looking for a good place and started looking for good people... Liveloula also accepts volunteers, although mostly on a long-term basis, for a few months. Liveloula has its website here.

The nearest village is Seliana, home to the legendary Re-Green eco-centre, and we also went through there as volunteers ten years ago. Amazing place and good people around. They also have very good facilities for courses and events.

And then of course there's the whole Peloponnese, where Greek history went...

It's two and a half hours from Athens, where there's a train and a bus.

Persons and cast:

Adults: Michal (CZ), Marta (ITA)

Children: Mia (7 years), Elio (5 years), Sasha (1 year)

Dogs, cats, lizards, dragonflies, newts. Ants in the breadbox and a pair of beautiful jackals behind the stream. A very naughty mole who comes to our tomato patch!

The people around us. And people in the distance - like the ones reading this story right now. So they're actually close, too.

Thank you all for your support!

And we look forward to seeing you!