Siberian Quits Oil Job to Live in Altai Wilderness

Three years ago, 40-year-old Denis Denisov quit his job at an oil company in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (Siberia) and moved with his wife to the Altai Republic. Since then, he has had no desire to leave his village. In his new home, he has worked as a teacher and mastered the building trade.

In an interview with NGS22.RU, he explained how he decided to move, what he had to get used to, and why Altai has become a true home for him.

“The longer we stayed, the more I fell in love”

Denis, who was born and raised in the North, has a long history with Siberia. His grandparents lived in Altai Krai, so he often visited them. He first came to the neighboring Altai Republic in 2015–2016. Before that, he had only vacationed in the south — in Sochi. But after that first trip, his priorities changed.

“At first we started alternating between Sochi and Altai,” he recalls. “And toward the end it was just Altai and Altai. The longer we stayed, the more I fell in love,” he shared.

Over time, as the northerner recalls, upon returning to Khanty-Mansiysk after vacation, he began to be haunted by a feeling that he shouldn«t have returned at all.

“When I came back from vacation, I had this feeling: ‘What am I doing here? Why am I not there?’ My place is there, not here. It started pressing on me like a snowball,” he said.

Moreover, fatigue with the city began to accumulate, so after consulting with his wife, he decided to drastically change his life — to quit the oil and gas processing company and move 2,000 kilometers to the Altai Republic.

“I had to learn to live again”

The couple settled in the Turochaksky District. Denis, who had never lived in a village before, had to get used to absolutely everything.

“Moving to Altai was my first such experience. I had to learn to live again. To get used to the fact that in a village there are no services like in cities. Almost everything had to be done by hand,” the northerner noted.

And there was a lot to do. In the Altai Mountains, the couple bought a plot of land with an old house that required serious repairs.

“I remember our first day in the house: my wife went to the window and traced her finger along the old windowsill with such fear in her eyes. I told her: ‘Everything will be fine.’ That’s what I remember most,” the blogger admitted.

Renovating the old house, building a banya (Russian sauna), electrical work, plumbing — Denis mastered all of this from scratch.

“I acquired all the skills in the process. I had a mad desire to become a village resident. I had to overcome myself; it was hard, but there was a goal. As they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he emphasized.

He devoted himself entirely to this for the first two years of life in Altai. Then he was invited to work as a teacher at a school.

“I don’t miss the city”

The neighbors welcomed the city dwellers from the North well. According to Denis, relations with locals formed from the very first days. Now, as he emphasizes, they have fully integrated into the community.

“I say with pride that I am a villager. I don’t miss the city. Even when we go to Gorno-Altaysk (the republic«s capital), I want to get back to my village as soon as possible. It’s quiet, calm here, no bustle and no exhaust fumes,” Denis said.

In Altai, he found the peace he lacked in the North.

“The winters here are mild, spring is spring, summer is summer. In the North, the sun just shines, but here it warms you. The air, the water, the views — everything is different, better than there,” he noted.

According to Denis, he sees no downsides to life in Altai. The only thing he had to get used to is logistics.

“If you need something specialized for construction, you have to order it and wait. There’s no such thing as going to the store and buying it right away. That’s probably all,” the blogger added.

However, even that doesn’t bother him.

“I don’t have this strong feeling that something is missing. We don’t miss the city and don’t want to leave,” he stressed.

Previously, Denis says, he and his wife constantly discussed the possibility of moving. Now the desire has disappeared.

“I’d love to spend time by the sea, of course: the sea is the sea. But leaving the republic altogether — that’s not happening,” he shared.

The family plans to travel to Lake Baikal and Kamchatka, but purely for tourism.

“In Altai we feel good. Very good. Even the water is cleaner here. Up North, there’s a constant problem with water because of the swamps. It’s brown. Here there’s no such problem,” Denis added.

Blog as a moving diary

The idea of starting a blog came to Denis even before moving to Altai.

“I thought our experience would be interesting to others: how we get on our feet, settle in, change our lives. And it turned out that way,” he said.

At first, the blog gained almost no followers, but when the family arrived in the Altai Republic and began unloading their things and clearing the clutter in the house, the audience grew sharply — over a thousand people subscribed in a day.

“Now the blog has about 10,500 subscribers. The biggest interest was in the first days of village life; after that people subscribed and started following our life,” he noted.

Denis himself has been working as a physical education teacher at a local school for a year. His wife found work right after the move — she got a job at a gas station.

“They invited me, I agreed. I had informally organized sports events before. I found common ground with the kids; the year went by without any major incidents,” the blogger said.

In their free time, the family improves their plot and enjoys the nature and beauty of the Altai Mountains.

“We lived without a fence for three years; now I’m building one. Other than that, we have construction, swimming in the river, walks, and travels around the republic — we visit all the districts. We don’t have time to be bored,” Denis noted.

The couple doesn’t have a farm yet, but Denis plans to get a horse in the future — just for the soul, not for work.