He is not a hermit, he does not seek solitude like a friar “ora et labora”He simply made a very strong, radical life choice, where he wants to demonstrate that one can be happy with oneself and others without wasting anything. And, as he says when introducing himself, "becoming a happy person thanks to the renunciation of everything that isn't essential."
Gabriele Ghio, is 44 years old and, for five years, lived in a cherry tree, a very resistant wood, in a forest in Northern Italy. His story, discovered by journalist Paolo Rodari of the newspaper The Republic, It has become an autobiography (My house on the cherry tree. Leaving the city, living in the woods and being happy. TS Editions) and is part of a very strong trend abroad, defined under the title Tree House Living. Life in the trees, precisely, like that of Gabriele.
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How did Gabriele's decision come about? He is a driving instructor and after a serious car accident he had a form of depression It didn't seem easy to escape from with routine decisions. A change was needed. And with a friend's suggestion, it suddenly came: living in a little house, in a tree.
After a week of experimentation, Gabriele's life in his little house by the cherry tree had become completely normal. He went out to go shopping and to work. What changed was the simplicity of his routine. He wore only what was necessary. Food was bought in town, but since there was no refrigerator, he always ate fresh, and he went shopping every two days at most. Gabriele washed outside, using a shower with a small cistern.
In the introduction to his book, commenting on the choice to live in a little house on a cherry tree, Gabriele writes: “We're all caught up in the frenetic pace of life. If only we slowed down, we'd realize that the things we truly need are few. I don't know if I've found the right direction, I don't know what this solitary existence of mine will mean in the future, but the feeling of having fulfilled a wish strengthens me. Dreams must be realized.".
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Gabriele has now dismantled his treehouse, but his desire remains to build a new one in Piedmont and another abroad, near the sea. For this very reason, he has hired a lawyer, an architect, and a surveyor to build a self-contained, independent, and fully legal treehouse, where he can also take up residency. Bureaucratic obstacles have not yet allowed him to do so: in our country, there are no specific laws regulating the possibility of building treehouses to live in. It's a viable solution only as a guesthouse. But Gabriele is tenacious and has no intention of giving up on his dream. So, for now, launched the “Treego” project, a journey through tree houses in Italy, to discover their inhabitants.
Photo taken from the Facebook page of Gabriele Ghio.
Read also:
- Tree Villages: the most beautiful in Italy
- Hugging trees improves your mood and increases concentration.
- Where are the tree houses in Italy?
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