They’ve been classmates since elementary school and run away from routine: they live together in the middle of the countryside.

The long prison terms imposed during the pandemic gave many people time to reflect and reinvent themselves. Some out of duty, others because they want to. He gave the last push to Luciano Regal (43) and Patricia Rolon (43) to promote a life in touch with nature and nomads. After all, they wanted to end the routine. Conditions were given.

He started a virtual store during his quarantine, which includes an “ecological gift shop” because he was unable to continue his work as a radiologist and biochemist. And he works remotely on computers. “My work has already taken me on vacation. Why not do it more often?

The couple rented a house in Belgrano r near the train station. They have been together for three years. They were classmates from elementary school and ended up reuniting in a love story with adventurous flavors. The two live in Los Flores, in the middle of the countryside, in a self-renovated school group, says Luciano, who shared photos of “Bandy” on his Twitter account (@LuchoR78), photos and details of the work they did, not knowing how to hold a tool.

The plan was designed with all the setbacks and unpredictability of the pandemic over time. They started selling ecological sorbets with a nice explanation along with Patricia’s handmade products, who lent her a sewing machine. First they shipped it by mail, then they had to walk it through the neighborhood. Included in the proposal: Bamboo brushes, handmade soaps and herbal pencils, come with beet seeds, spinach, chard. Once they are done, they can be planted as is.

In June 2021, they decided to take the first big step and went to live on a farm in Karin and slept in some wagons from 1890., stipulated as housing. The following month, “Bandy” came into their lives. And a new chapter will be written.

For that nomadic lifestyle, the ideal was to have a truck or mobile home. But they won’t go in, because the couple isn’t alone. Luciano’s son from his first marriage, Nahuel, 19, is to have his room. In addition, they had two pets: Mora, an American Staffordshire “shared possession” and Mia, a Persian cat. At Karin, a puppy joined: Chester. According to Luciano, they will not enter the mobile home.

And they turned to a school bus with better maintenance. “Many return to groups because after 10 years of no service, it is worth almost as much as a used car. We had a 2008 vehicle and converted it to a 2005 bus”. Explain. They had “love at first sight” with their purchase. The vehicle was in Martinez. The owner bought it to work, and the epidemic caught up with him.

As always, one imagines everything differently. It seemed too much for Luciano to suddenly drive like that, so the bus took him to his door. I wasn’t ready to go beyond his recording. The couple hoped to clear all 40 seats at full speed in two days. Miscalculation. It took three weeks. Like that example, they met under different circumstances. “We don’t know how to cut wood. He had a briefcase with three tools: A screwdriver, a hammer, a pair of pliers and top of the poor quality”, he explains. With the tools learned to use with the tutorials, the pair compensate. Luciano is afraid of the grinder, Patricia is not. While he encourages the circular saw.

“We were able to leave the nest free and remove the rust. We had to start doing something. And it was a mystery. We see millions of profiles on Instagram and the work of people in other countries, the United States, Costa Rica, etc. We painted to protect it. We removed the roof completely and assembled it in machimber. In total, we have 22 usable meters, a studio apartment. Everything is practical and thinking. Behind everything is our room and we have a chair. Things like the allowance and undercounter in the kitchen are still missing,” he explains.

“These are difficult times for everyone. Ever since we started, the number of items we want to buy for Bondi keeps increasing. Investing is not easy. To live or to invest”, he assures. Entrepreneurs, he says, have recently noticed that it costs money to sell products, despite their ups and downs.

They haven’t planned any fun trips yet. Now they are in a hostel with a cultural space at Galpón Creativo in Las Flores, where they currently use the kitchen and bathroom until work is done. They travel a lot to the capital to take Nahuel to his mother’s house and back. The 19-year-old was excited to travel by bus, but he is studying gastronomy, which is a priority.

Country life is peaceful. They had to put in an oven. The Persian cat likes to sleep under the “bondi” and does not move from the radius. And according to its owner, “He doesn’t look like he’s hunting because he doesn’t know anything.” The apartment’s dog, Mora, has a tendency to run away, and lives inside, and their adopter, Chester, is a walker. Shopping is done by bicycle in the town which is 3 km away. It’s not like going to the Chinese supermarket around the corner. Going with the school is an activity that goes to buy two milks. Of course, outside of siesta hours, when the city sleeps.

“One idealizes the project and everything is as happy as they show on the networks, but it has its problems,” he says. Once they stopped by the road for six hours due to lack of fuel. The needle is mis-marked and not worth the price of a car. The mechanic saved them.

Currently they don’t have a fixed plan. Make up for what they lack and incorporate solar panels to get clean energy inside. Luciano’s work meetings, which have become remote during the pandemic, will continue to do so. It won’t change. “That adaptation helped me,” he says.

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