Riccardo Pratesi digital nomad: “I have lived in many different cities and visited 56 countries, I like Croatia a lot and I am glad I made the right choice”. Riccardo Pratesi has no doubts when he talks about the latest stage he is experiencing as a digital nomad. After living in Siena, Rome, and Milan and four years travelling around the United States following various NBA teams, the sports journalist has settled in Poreč, a summer tourist destination on the coast of Istria, a north-western region of Croatia.

From here, he continues to follow the season of the two major American sports leagues, NFL and NBA, reporting for Gazzetta Dello Sport, Italy’s leading sports daily, on what happens during the games: that is when it is daytime in the US and nighttime in Europe. An upside-down life that does not weigh on the mood of the protagonist, who is used to being out of the ordinary. “By now, people who know me know that I am the ‘weirdo’ of the group because of my hours that are different from the usual, but this peculiarity has turned out to be a good reason for the Croatians to like me.

In two years, Croatia has become a popular destination

As one of the first European countries to introduce a dedicated visa for digital nomads, Croatia has been climbing the list of most popular destinations for remote workers for the past two years. According to a survey conducted by NomadList, one of the leading websites dedicated to the digital nomad community on a global scale, Croatia is the most popular country, along with Japan.

This a figure to be taken with caution even though, unlike free Facebook groups or surveys with a limited sample, it should be considered that NomadList is a large, paid community of real digital nomads. What is certain is that the Balkan country has become one of the most attractive for those who work travelling the world, as demonstrated by the exploits of Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik.

The openness towards digital nomads was immediate with the launch of useful initiatives to facilitate their arrival in the country. One example is the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence programme, with ten digital nomads hosted free of charge for four weeks in order to get to know the place and help improve the city’s appeal, offering ideas and creativity to develop a tailor-made destination for those working remotely.

“We wanted the digital nomads to send a strong message to their colleagues that in Dubrovnik they can find a place for the development of creative ideas. In this way they also contribute to the local economy because we expect new ideas, products and a new vision of Dubrovnik from them,” said Mato Franković, mayor of the city since 2017 and member of the Croatian Parliamentary Committee on Tourism.

The search for a place on a human scale

From visas to the cultural offer, from the reliability of the web connection to the low cost of living, there are many reasons for choosing Croatia as a country to stay in. One of the most popular with foreigners is the climate, which is also a determining factor in Pratesi’s assessment.

“After living in the two main Italian cities, San Antonio, Minneapolis and Sacramento in the US, I was tired of the big metropolises, which offer so much but are stressful and expensive. I was looking for serenity in a place by the sea and on a human scale. I had limited the field to Slovenia, Lake Balaton in Hungary and Croatia. I went in person to see each place, but among the Hungarians, the second most common language was German, which I do not speak, while Slovenia offered few seaside solutions. So I tried Croatia, first in Umag, a town famous for a men’s tennis tournament on the ATP Tour 250 circuit, and then I moved on to Poreč’.

The two towns have around 15,000 inhabitants and are just over 30 km apart. They are both located on the coast of Istria, a northern region of Croatia where, for historical reasons, the most widely spoken language after Croatian is Italian. “Language was a priority for my choice because it allows me to interact with people. Here people over 45 speak and understand Italian well, while younger people understand it well, but few speak it, although with them there is no problem because they have a good command of English’.

In addition to the linguistic motivation, other aspects convinced Pratesi to focus on northern Croatia: ‘There is an aesthetic issue, with Venetian-style palaces and several sites recognised as UNESCO heritage sites, including the building where I live. Being able to live in such an elegant place helps you live better’.

Talking about the locals, the journalist draws an interesting comparison with his past because today’s Istrians look like the Italians of thirty years ago: ‘There is empathy between people, and the pace is calmer than the typical speed in Italy and other western countries. Everything here is smaller and simpler, with people meeting in cafés and taking their time to chat and be together. You can still see the sense of community, with children walking around alone even after dark and cars being left unlocked when you go to the café because you help each other and local crime is almost absent’.

Everything you need

Much frequented in summer by tourists attracted by the beautiful sea, Poreč, like Umag, is a place that meets the basic needs of digital nomads. “There are many places to work, and they all offer excellent Wi-Fi, you eat well, you spend little, and there is hospitality, although for me now it’s easy, because the 5-6 places where I go now know me, they know what I do and what I love to eat”.

Often travelling to cover frontline sporting events, after years as a top reporter for Gazzetta Dello Sport, Pratesi chose to leave the editorial staff and work as a freelancer, continuing to collaborate with the Italian newspaper and beyond. ‘I received a severance package but left a lot of money on the table by making a choice considered crazy by everyone, but I felt the need to get out of my comfort zone and follow my own path to continue growing. I love to always be on the ball, I feel it as a duty to the readers, so I try to be as helpful as possible even with those who follow me on social media’.

Also to write his latest book ‘NBA Confidential. Fatti e misfatti del basket americano‘ (on sale on amazon.it and other Italian online stores because it is written in Italian), Pratesi set out on the road, travelling to Argentina and Serbia to further research former NBA star Emanuel Ginobili and two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. He then continued to travel to different cities to promote the book, but once his commitments were over, he always returned to his flat overlooking the sea in Poreč.

“Not everything is perfect as here I am decentralised from the centre of events, and it takes more than two hours to get to the airport in Ljubljana or Venice and even longer to get to Zagreb. Otherwise, I have no problems, also because being close to Italy in an emergency, I can get home quickly. Summing it all up, therefore, Poreč, Umag and, more generally, Istria and Dalmatia are places that I would recommend for digital nomads and those looking for a nice, quiet and cheap place by the sea. Although from 1 January 2023, the Euro has arrived in Croatia to replace the Kuna as the official currency, which could change things somewhat.