Monthly $557 ‘needed for family life in village’

ISTANBUL

An urban couple, who left Istanbul with their 7-year-old son and settled in a village in the northwestern province of Balıkesir, has been advised to have a minimum monthly earning of 10,000 Turkish Liras ($557) to get a taste of a village life.

“We earn keep from YouTube videos we share,” Deniz Sarı, who worked for a decade for a national newspaper, before moving to a village in the Edremit district, told the daily Milliyet.

His wife, Sibel Sarı, was a planning supervisor in the textile industry also for around a decade. Now she is behind, her husband is in front of the camera, shooting videos of village life, agriculture and tourist sites in the region for YouTube.

“We were amazed by the beauty of Mount Ida when we first saw it in October 2020,” Deniz Sarı said and added: “We sold everything to hand, and with savings of 70,000 liras ($3,897) we hit the roads to find a home in the region.”

Job opportunities in a village are limited for sure, but he is confident that “anyone can be boss of his own business in a village,” while highlighting he is earning money from YouTube.

House prices soar

“I am free. I work whenever I want.”

He just pointed out the rise in prices of the houses. “The prices of the village houses have soared, too,” he said, adding that a house which was around 150,000 liras ($8,350) is today around a million liras ($55,666).

“But don’t lose your hope. If you like a village, villagers will help you to find a house suitable for your wallet,” he stated.