OUR STORY
The idea of Basecamp523 matures in Berlin where we have lived for over 10 years.
The routine and the hectic pace of the city, which until then, had given us so much, seemed to no longer belong to us.
Stability and careers achievement were no longer enough to fill our lives with a deep sense of happiness and fulfillment.
It took a while before deciding what it was best for us, either being stuck with our routine or return to a simpler life made of nature and authentic moments
A journey, by bike, in Patagonia was a real eye-opener for Marco. “You can truly understand the essence of life when you detach from the routine” Marco said after having traveled over 3000 km on a gravel bike. Traveling by bike lays you bare as you can only count on your strength and on those very few tools and things you can take with you. Free of superfluous, in “back to basics” mode.
We realize that happiness can be found in little things only when we can detach from the society which pushes us to continuously search for a social status and creates needs that do not exist in nature.
Marco and Silvia understood that the time has come. They took courage and left their old life, career and the big city to start developing their new life project: Basecamp523!
Our idea is to re-evaluate rural and mountain areas. Starting right from where we come from the Marche Apennines, through slow, conscious and inspiring tourism.
Meanwhile, Italy and the entire world was struck by the pandemic, we started working on our project. Then, we decided to move to the countryside in the house that belonged to Marco’s great-grandparents. The house, surrounded by mountains, at 523m above sea level, felt like the place to be and to find inspiration from.
“We feel like mountaineers in a base camp before climbing up the mountain”, a metaphor that perfectly described how we were living. This is where the name basecamp523m comes from. The project was initially selected by a start-up accelerator, funded by the Garrone and A. Merloni foundation, which provided us with the necessary skills to develop a business in rural and mountain areas. In February 2022, we were selected from a further entrepreneurial training program called IDEABOOSTERLAB funded by the European Commission, which allowed us to access a cutting-edge program at the Bocconi University in Milan.