I agree. As someone from Romania who works remotely, I moved from the big city to a village about 50 km away, seeking a quieter life. Even there fiber had been run out. It only took a few days for the ISP to show up and run some fiber from the pole to my home, and then I was enjoying speeds as fast as I had previously had in the heart of the city.
Romanians are lucky that this country saw an early broadband boom in the 1990s and early millennium, and fiber was run out everywhere. Sadly, the neighbouring countries tend to emphasize mobile internet for getting villages connected instead of physical links, but that means that in villages there you cannot, for example, torrent Bluray images to your heart’s content.
Your situation is still rare in Romania. Also consider how far are you from the closest hospital (if you are far from Bucharest, Cluj, Iasi or Timisoara you are too far), a decent school for your kids, a decent place to go out (not the village pub where alcoholics waste their lives) and so on. One can live like a monk, but not raise a family in a small village or even a city like Petrosani (very nice area, but zero amenities), Pucioasa, Pascani or Pecica.
There are not so many jobs where you can work from home, especially exclusive from home. I also work from home most of the time, but when I need to get to the office I spend 3-4 hours driving: not nice.
> a decent place to go out (not the village pub where alcoholics waste their lives)
If you are in your early 20s and going out every night, then a village might suck. But I’m older now, and for the one or two times a week I meet friends, I just cycle down to the train station, put my bike on the train, and in an hour or so I’m in the city.
Even when I just want a coffee for myself, there is a small town nearby with two nice cafes. It’s not all alcoholics outside the big city.
> a decent school for your kids ... but not raise a family in a small village
Are you religious or something? The vast majority of my social circle either does not want children, or wants 1 child much later in life. So, no reason that such people who prefer a quiet life cannot spend at least a few years in the countryside now.
> There are not so many jobs where you can work from home, especially exclusive from home.
Romania might be the remote-working capital of Europe now. Coworking spaces are popping up like mushrooms after rain. Yes, not everyone can work remotely, but anyone who has a university education and who uses English a lot ought to at least consider becoming a freelancer, or applying at a Western European company that will let them work from home in RO.
Are you religious or something? The vast majority of
my social circle either does not want children, or
wants 1 child much later in life. So, no reason that
such people who prefer a quiet life cannot spend at
least a few years in the countryside now.
You may be surprised to find a lot of people on HN are already “much later in life”. Also, from the experience of several friends of mine who had a lot trouble- if you want kids you should start trying before the future mother is 40.
We were lucky to be very fertile/healthy but we also started having kids in our early 30s.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the providers are starting to market 5G, but the data pricing is so terrible, 3G is more than enough and still requires ample rationing.
I have to be careful not to stream too many podcasts. Forget music or video.
Romanians are lucky that this country saw an early broadband boom in the 1990s and early millennium, and fiber was run out everywhere. Sadly, the neighbouring countries tend to emphasize mobile internet for getting villages connected instead of physical links, but that means that in villages there you cannot, for example, torrent Bluray images to your heart’s content.