"I feel so enriched because I met a lot of people and I heard a lot of different stories"
Why did you choose to travel in the first place?
Travelling for me is my medicine and I live it in a spiritual way. I started travelling when I was a child with my uncle, but then I had to stop for a long time because of family problems. I started again maybe seven or eight years ago and I never stopped. For me travelling is starting a new little journey of my life. I can’t describe the feeling of booking a new flight and arriving in a new place. When I arrive in a new country, the most important thing for me is to not judge people. There’s only the curiosity to get to know something new. For me there are two different groups of people: travellers and tourists. A tourist has everything organized and my question is “What is your contact with the culture?”. Travellers are different. They arrive with curiosity.
How do you usually travel?
I always travel alone. I really love it. When my friends ask me why I travel alone, I say that I need to improve myself freely, without judgment and limitations. It’s a challenge for me. Also, when I choose a new place to go and when I buy the tickets, I don’t plan. I read a lot about the country, though, to have an idea of what is nice to see and do. To not have a plan also helps you to speak with local people. When I went to Montezuma, Costa Rica, I didn’t book any place to sleep in - I never book accommodations - and every place was full. After talking to some people, I ended up sleeping on the beach in a city close to Montezuma.
Usually I go to hostels because I can meet a lot of beautiful people there, with beautiful stories. I love to listen to them and share my experiences as well. I feel so enriched because I met a lot of people and I heard a lot of different stories. Because of that, I have many friends in every part of the world.
Tell me a significant story you have been told.
I met a Malaysian old man who was the owner of the hostel I was staying in. When I saw him, I realized he had an accident. One night I was in the hostel with other people, having a beer. We started to talk about our lives and one guy asked him what had happened to him. He told us that he travelled around the world for eight years and then he decided to come back to Malaysia and open the hostel. Not a long time after opening the hostel he had a serious accident with his motorbike. He explained to us that in the moment the car crashed into his motorbike, he saw his whole life flashing in front of him. He was in a coma for months. When he recovered, he realized that if he had died, he would have been ok with that because he really enjoyed his life, exploring the world and meeting a lot of people. I was shocked because it’s hard to find someone who is at peace, doesn’t have regrets and accepts death.
Tell me about one of your biggest passions, photography, and how it connects to your travelling.
I love photography, especially black and white photography and I love storytelling, so I take pictures when I feel like capturing a situation or a person. I don’t like to travel in a rush. I travel choosing what I want to do with my time. I can decide to sit on the beach, look at people, look at nature. I take my time to connect with myself and connect myself with a new place at the same time, also through photography. I use photography to tell a story about the place where I am. I go around in a place and look at people, food, traditions. For example, in Malaysia what most caught my eyes were the people. When I saw Muslims with Catholics and Hindus at the same table eating together, I felt a strong feeling inside. I started to take pictures related to that topic. I also created a storytelling using photography about street food in Malaysia because I was fascinated by the food culture in that country.
Do you have any project in mind related to travelling?
At the moment I’m working full time but I would like to quit my job and travel for eight months in South America. I would like to take pictures focusing on indigenous people. It’s just an idea but It’s a big dream for me to tell a story about these people.
How do you balance travelling and working?
I travel a lot for work. I work for a big company in Italy that manages the building of new cruise ships. I went to Portland, Singapore and I’m going to Rotterdam soon. Of course it’s different from the way I usually travel but at this moment this is a good compromise.
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What is the hardest part of travelling for you?
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When I have to come back. At that moment my trip is over. I would like to decide for myself when to start and stop travelling. It’s a limit for my freedom and creativity. Right now it's not possible for me to quit my job but I want to travel my way and create a better travel-work balance, maybe by working with my computer from everywhere. I need to finish my masters though, and put some stuff in order in my life before starting a new project.
Do your friends and family support your choice of travelling?
I’m lucky because my father and his wife completely understand my free spirit. They support me and they don’t judge me. I maybe call them once a month but that is just my way. During my trips, I spent two Christmas holidays alone, without my family. For a lot of people the hardest part is to have their parents or their friends very far away. For me this is not a big problem. My concept of love is different. Love is love, always. If you love your family or your partner, you always love them. It’s bad when people judge the way you love, saying how you are supposed to love, like “If you don’t stay with them, you don’t really love them”. For me love is freedom. Sometimes I felt people judge me because I don’t respect the typical concept for love and relationships. I felt bad about this because I already judge myself a lot, especially when I broke up with my last boyfriend. I tried to understand why I have this need to go and why I can’t stay here living a normal life. When I started to travel alone and take my time, I really understood that this is me and I have to respect me and my spiritual path. Now I completely accept the way I am and I choose to be friends with people that accept the way I am. If you travel you find a lot of similar people like you and you understand you’re ok. You’re not alone in the world, there are a lot of people that are like you.
Do you have a dream related to travelling?
I would like to help people travel, especially women. A lot of women are scared to go to many countries. A lot of pressure is put on them: at 30 years old you have to get married, have kids and so on. At the same time you are a woman so “why are you travelling alone?”. I would like to encourage women to travel by themselves and discover themselves and what they want to do in their lives.
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