By Nikolas Bardis

Through the “Return to Homeland” Program, the Municipality of Plastira Lake makes an open invitation to families with children to go and settle permanently in the villages of the Municipality, where they are offered work and a house for their stay.

Seeing in recent years a dramatic decrease in the population of the area, the Mayor had an open discussion with the community, they put down the issues and decided to act, motivating new people to go and stay in the traditional villages of the Municipality, which are literally “suffocated” in greenery.

And the truth is that their mobilization had an effect! Three young families made the decision to move there, and start their lives from the beginning, giving the Greek countryside a chance. Certainly life in the village is not easy and has many difficulties. However, it also offers some qualities that are hard to find in big cities. The school remained open, children’s voices are heard in the square, while there are also many digital nomads who chose Plastira Lake as their place of residence, from where they work remotely in various professions, which simply require good internet.

In this way, they also have a good salary, and enjoy the unsurpassed natural beauty of the area, which if they lived in Athens or Thessaloniki, they would never see it. Actions like this started to appear after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and since then there have been many who have adopted this practice and decided to decentralize, going to live in the countryside and remote islands, always having as their ally the development of technology and a good network. Today, a total of 12 digital nomads have relocated to the Municipality of Plastira Lake and the Municipality hopes to reach even more in the near future.

The camera of Where There is Greece in SKAI traveled to Karditsa and made a special trip to the picturesque villages of the Municipality of Plastira, where it met and talked with a family that decided to leave Larissa and life in the city, and start from scratch in a small, mountainous village.

They say they have not regretted it, while the hospitality and love of the locals, who welcomed them in the warmest way, made their start even easier. A single decision is enough to change your life, and to breathe life into the Greek countryside, which is desolating year after year. The state must stand by these families and give tempting incentives to the world for corresponding actions.