Paola Demurtas is not a scientist studying a blue zone from outside — she was born and raised in one, in the interior of Sardinia, and then went on to study the phenomenon academically. That double perspective, native and scholar, makes her one of the most grounded voices on the whole quest about why some places simply grow old well.
Her definition cuts against the usual checklist. Ask her what a blue zone is and she does not start with diet or genes. She says family. “You can replicate a lot of things — food, olive trees — but not the sense of community.” It is the one ingredient that cannot be exported, and in her telling it is the decisive one.
What that looks like in practice is startling to an outsider: elders and teenagers living in the same building, spending their days together. The old are not set aside; they are consulted on any decision that touches the family, and they teach. She now spends hours with her aunt hearing about a past she was too young to remember — the exact thing she found boring as a teenager.
She is honest that it took leaving to understand it. As a teenager she felt isolated in a remote place and dreamed of getting out — and was one of the first to go. Only after seeing the rest of the world did the value become obvious. Now she watches a quiet movement of people her age coming back to the roots, running the family sheep farm in a modern way, keeping the traditions alive with a contemporary touch.
On the elders’ famous good humour she is unsentimental about its source: they grew up with basically nothing, life was genuinely hard, and so they can appreciate even the smallest things. Wisdom and welcome, she suggests, are what’s left when everything inessential has been stripped away.
Blue zoneCommunitySardiniaFamily
Sardinia · August 2024
Under the tree, Sardinia
Where we met
This is one of the quest’s purest father-hands-over moments: the entire interview is conducted by Aleksander, sitting with Paola under a wind-bent tree on a Sardinian mountain road, a week before the family reached Warsaw and the end. Local dogs kept wandering into shot to join them — which, given the subject, felt about right.
Born and raised
Interior Sardinia
Inside the blue zone, not studying it from outside.
University
Later
She went on to study the blue zone phenomenon academically.
Sardinia
August 2024
The interview under the tree — Aleksander asking every question.
“I can find the same olive trees anywhere. I cannot find the sense of community that I have here.”
— Paola Demurtas, Sardinia
On the quest
Sardinia
Under the tree. Paola and Aleksander on the mountain road — he conducted the whole interview.The elders of the square. Marek with two of the men Paola describes — the ones who, asked if they’d take another hundred years, said “if I feel as good as today, of course.”Walking the hills. Paola guided father and son through the blue zone she was born into.
In her words
Back to the roots
“We tend to live all together — elders and teenagers, usually in the same building. The elders have so much respect from us. When we take an important decision, we ask them.”
Paola Demurtas · Sardinia, August 2024
Blue Zone, for me, as a native, means family.
Paola Demurtas
When I was a teenager I felt isolated. I was dreaming of leaving. I was one of the first to go.
Paola Demurtas
Now people are trying to come back to the roots — the old traditions, in a modern way.
Paola Demurtas
The elders grew up with nothing, so they appreciate even the little things.
Paola Demurtas
If I’m happy, even a thousand years. If I’m not happy — as my auntie said — why do I have to live longer?
Paola Demurtas
Being lonely is different from being alone.
Paola Demurtas
You have to treat your body as a temple and not a trash bin.
Paola Demurtas
In her own words
Straight from the interview
From Aleksander’s conversation with Paola under the tree — what a blue zone really is, why she once wanted to leave, and where the young are now.
The part you can’t copy
Every blue-zone article lists the food, the movement, the wine. Paola, who has both lived it and studied it, points at the one thing that never transfers: the sense of community. You can plant the olive trees anywhere; you cannot manufacture a place where everyone in the next village knows your family and welcomes you for it.
“Not the sense of community that I have here.”
Sardinia · from the interview
Elders under the same roof
The structural fact behind the longevity, in her telling, is architectural and social: generations live together, the old are consulted rather than shelved, and the young absorb decades of memory as ordinary daily life. She only started valuing it as an adult — hours with her aunt now, learning the past she ignored as a teenager.
“They care about us. They teach us beautiful things.”
Sardinia · from the interview
Coming back
She does not romanticise it. Living there year-round is hard and not for everyone, and she left first. But she sees a real movement of people her age returning — running the family farm in a modern style, keeping traditions alive with a contemporary touch, because otherwise it all disappears in a few years.
“Otherwise everything will be gone in a few years.”
Paola guides visitors through the Sardinian blue zone. Follow her on Instagram at @paodemu.
From the conversation
Paola Demurtas, in her words
Video interview
The video interview is coming. Recorded interviews go live after the launch of the film & series Live Beyond.
From the conversation in Sardinia, August 2024 — conducted entirely by Aleksander. Local dogs wander in and out throughout. Lightly edited for readability.
On what a blue zone is
Aleksander Piotrowski“Could you tell me your definition of a blue zone?”
Paola Demurtas“From my point of view, the blue zone is the sense of community we have here. Every time I hear “blue zone,” it means family. Of course it’s a specific term with specific criteria — but for me, as a native, blue zone means family. This makes everything different from other places. You can replicate a lot of things, food or whatever, but the sense of community, the feeling, the vibe — I can find nothing comparable anywhere else in the world. I can find the same olive trees. Not the sense of community.”
On elders and the young together
Paola Demurtas“We tend to live all together, elders and teenagers, usually in the same building. So we spend a lot of time together, and the elders have so much respect from us. When we need to take an important decision that involves the family, we ask them. They’re not just a part — we care about them, so they care about us, and they teach us a lot of beautiful things. Now I spend hours with my aunt, talking about the past, how I grew up — things that were boring to me as a teenager.”
On having wanted to leave
Paola Demurtas“When I was younger, a teenager, I didn’t realise how important the place where I lived was, because I felt really isolated in this remote place. I was dreaming of leaving — I was one of the first to go. But as you grow up you realise you have a lot of beautiful things here, and you feel part of this community. You feel that people really care about you.”
On the young coming back
Aleksander Piotrowski“Is it just your case, or do many young people want to move away — and now want to preserve the tradition?”
Paola Demurtas“Many of us moved abroad, and now people are trying to come back to the roots and do something related to the past, but in a modern way — like running a sheep farm that’s belonged to the family for generations, but with a new style, keeping the traditions alive with a touch of modern things. There’s this new movement. It’s not enough — we need more people here — but they care about our roots, and they’re proud, because now people all over the world are talking about the blue zone, about our elders. We want to contribute to preserving our roots. Otherwise everything will be gone in a few years.”
On the elders’ mindset
Aleksander Piotrowski“What can you say about the local people’s mindset?”
Paola Demurtas“The elders are always positive, because they grew up with basically nothing. Their life was really tough, so they’re able to appreciate even little things. They’re always happy, very wise, very welcoming with everybody.”
On feeling safe
Paola Demurtas“Even if I go to another village and I don’t know that person personally, they know I’m from the next village. They ask about my family — “okay, your parents were there, so you’re welcome.” We are a big family all over this place. So I feel safe everywhere, and involved in everything.”
On loneliness, not solitude — walking with Marek
Paola Demurtas“It’s the fact of being lonely, which is different from being alone. I love to be alone sometimes — but lonely means there’s no one who cares about you. In the past, shepherds were alone up in the mountains for months, but they weren’t lonely: their mind was set up differently, because they knew that somewhere in the village there were people who cared about them. Society today is losing that.”
On happiness before longevity
Paola Demurtas“As long as I’m happy, it doesn’t matter. If I’m happy, even a thousand years; if I’m not happy, why do I have to live longer? Here, people don’t want to live longer if they’re not happy. You have to stay positive — the elders have that attitude, and we’re losing it. You have to treat your body as a temple and not a trash bin.”
On her mission
Paola Demurtas“Someone once told me, “you have a mission,” and at the time I didn’t realise it really is one. Now I’m aware we have something truly special here, and I want to share it — it’s my way of saying thank you for raising me in this environment.”
More passages from the full interview will be published here.
Continue the quest
More minds on the quest
Paola Demurtas sits in Longevity Basics (community, family, mindset) and Creating the Movement — she is actively keeping the blue-zone culture alive.
