- Violet Pacileo left her job in finance in Tokyo to open a CrossFit gym in rural Japan.
- Contrary to popular belief, she discovered that rural life doesn’t necessarily mean a slower pace of life.
- Despite living in the countryside, Pacileo still works around the clock as a business owner.
A woman who left her career in the stock market to open a CrossFit gym in rural Japan says life in the countryside isn’t as slow-paced as some might think.
Violet Pacileo told Savvy Tokyo that she used to live in Tokyo — Japan’s capital city — and work in finance. She described her job as stressful with little work-life balance, which led her to move to Kochi Prefecture in southern Japan.
“When I was working in sales, I would leave the house at 5 a.m. to fit in a CrossFit class at 6 a.m. before heading to the office, so I didn’t see my kids in the morning,” said Pacileo. She started working in Tokyo in 2006 and felt like she wasn’t being a good parent because she only spent time with her kids on the weekends.
Pacileo’s LinkedIn profile shows her experience working for multinational companies like the Macquarie Group and Aberdeen.
Pacileo, her husband, and three kids moved to Otoyo, a rural town in Kochi Prefecture with a population of around 3,500, in 2020. She opened a CrossFit gym called Otoyo Strength a few months later.
As a business owner, Pacileo realized that the pace of life in the countryside can be just as demanding as in the city.
“Many people may assume that moving to the countryside means a slower pace of life and more time with family, but as a business owner, I still work 24/7,” Pacileo explained. “In reality, it doesn’t matter where you are. Whether in the city or the countryside, if you’re a business owner, you’re working 24/7.”
“We don’t get any time off! However, we are in the process of hiring more staff, so hopefully, this will improve in the next few years,” Pacileo told Insider.
Pacileo is not the only one who has relocated to the countryside and discovered that life there is not necessarily easier than in the city.
Dave Alistair, an American who moved to a rural province in Portugal in 2022, shared with Insider in September that having an open mind is crucial when moving to the countryside, especially in a different country.
“If you come to a country and expect it to be like the America you left, where you only interact with fellow Americans and live in a bubble, then you will be disappointed and unhappy with the lifestyle,” Alistair advised.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
