Loves Hadsel: Mathia Pacenti came for one summer and ended up staying. – Melbu is my base now, he tells
Moved from Italy to Hadsel:
Now he sells Norway from Melbu
Mathia Pacenti from Italy moved to Hadsel to work one summer and found love two weeks before he was supposed to return home. Now, he works to promote Vesterålen and Norway from his base in Melbu.
— It was almost by chance that I ended up here, Pacenti tells to Vesterålens Avis.
He says he came to Norway in the summer of 2018 to work at a hotel on the west coast during summer break, between school years in Italy, where he was studying languages.
The Pandemic
During the winter, he had an interview with Robin Bolsøy, director at Melbu Hotel, to work there. It was difficult to leave the country, but in July 2020, he finally made it.
— That’s when I came to Melbu to work at the hotel, which was full of kids and crew filming Rabalder, says Pacenti.
Toward the end of the summer, he was sad about having to leave again — and two weeks before his planned departure, he met the woman he now lives with.
— It was love at first sight, he says with a soft look.
After a period of long-distance, he moved back to Melbu in December 2021.
When the pandemic hit, Italy was hit hard — "harder than here," he says.
— I lived in Turin, in a small apartment. You couldn't even go outside — it was tough, he says.
Travel Planner
— I've always liked planning trips for people, Mathia says.
When he returned to Norway, he eventually found a company based in Norway that does exactly that — professionally. For the past three years, he’s worked as a "travel designer." That means tailoring trips for individuals, couples, and families in the so-called “high-end” market.
— Most of our customers are American, but also some from other countries — really from all over the world, he says.
Pacenti customizes the trips based on the client’s wishes and supports them by phone or email during their stay. He books and arranges everything for them. All of them are what he calls "individual travelers" — in practice, solo travelers, couples, or families.
— We don’t work with groups, he explains, and continues:
— We try to create tailor-made trips for people who want to experience something more authentic and local. We don’t want to overload one place with too many people, but instead try to spread things out and collaborate with local experience providers. We aim to have minimal negative impact on the nature where we send people.
Does it keep you busy?
— It keeps me going almost 24 hours a day, he says with a smile.
Locally in Vesterålen, he mentions the new hotel in Stokmarknes, the Hurtigruten Museum, Skagakaia, and Litløy Lighthouse as great attractions for guests.
— And I also collaborate with Robin Bolsøy, who organizes amazing mountain hikes or bike tours — for example, around the island with a cake stop at Galleri Uvær, he adds.
Blogger
But being a travel planner isn’t the only thing he spends his time on.
— When I came back here, that first long, dark winter, I started writing, says Mathia, and continues:
“It was about the places I’d been and the things I experienced. Then I realized I could make a blog that would be a mix of personal experiences and a way to show how well I know Norway,” he adds. The blog is in English.
What’s the goal of the blog?
— In the beginning, it was a way to give something back to the place I live and the country I live in, says Mathia, and adds:
— That’s what I try to do through my job as well. I want to help draw visitors to Vesterålen and this part of the country. It has everything to excite guests when they arrive, he believes.
The Italian has no plans to return to his homeland for good.
— I feel like Norway is my country now, and Melbu is my base. I love to travel, but this is my home now. I’m really happy about that, he says, and adds:
— I like that it’s calmer here, without the constant hustle you find in other places. I’ve learned a lot here, Pacenti concludes.