It’s TravelReportage.com first blogversary!

…well actually it was!

I realized my first post was on June 10th, 2010 so I’m a little late (as usual) to announce it:

My first blogversary!

Starting this blog was definitely one of the best things I did in my life, because it allowed me to meet so many great people (even if most of the times only virtually… for now), and keep track of all the things I did and saw during these 365 days… and counting.

I thought about writing a little “best of” post about my old entries, so that new visitors can know more about my journey, how it all started, and what happened in the meantime! I’m so amazed to look back and see how many things happened in such a short time!

So here we go:

The first post – recovering from a spinal fracture, I opened my blog and explained what happened. With the wisdom of hindsight, I can tell this blog was my salvation!

Climbing Mount Sinai – My first travel related post: memories of a beautiful experience I had the year before, during a one month stay in Egypt studying Arabic.

Roatan and Copan, Honduras – A photo essay of another amazing experience I had in 2007, from the beautiful Island of Roatan to the Copan Ruinas, in Honduras.

Swimming with dolphins in Roatan

My top five bucket list – The 5 things I don’t want to miss in this world! Well, I missed one…

Another “top list” – 12 reasons why NOW is the right time to travel.

Travel tip – How to have an astonishing free experience at the Giza Pyramids. I did it again, three times, during my last stay in Egypt, and I always recommend to do as I did.

New York City Life Guide – 4 episodes full of tips about living in New York City, with all my favorite spots and places to go eating, shopping and sightseeing. Did you know I spent 6 months in NYC on 2009?

My camera gear for travel photography – Nothing special, but many people ask what I use… here is all the list of my gear and accessories!

Long term travel + relationships – My thoughts about this burning topical issue. Of course I was going through something… it was over much shorter than the time it took me to write the post anyway *cough*.

On the same note, When you fall in love in Egypt and you are a foreigner – A controversial post but of course partly autobiographical… or based on things I witnessed.

Japan: Tokyo and Mount Fuji – memories about a trip to Japan I had in 2008. I am glad I had the chance to visit that beautiful country before the recent sad events.

Eating noodles in Kyoto, Japan

And then, I finally moved to Egypt!

Cairo, day one – My first day in Cairo… pretty ordinary yet so special!

Living Ramadan – because I arrived in Egypt in the middle of Ramadan, and it was the first time for me to experience it.

Dahshur, Memphis, Saqqara and more Egyptian life – Photos and updates from my Egyptian life, including the stunning Red Pyramid in Dahshur and my new job as photography teacher for children… They hire me, but the course never started in the end.

Camping with the Beduins in the desert – This is definitely the coolest thing I did during my stay in Egypt: I attended the Characters of Egypt festival, where the tribes of all the Egyptian deserts gather for 3 days and exchange their culture, music, dances and habits. I was there as part of the staff in the press and documentation team. I met some of the most amazing people I ever met in my life, and they are still my great friends from Egypt.

Astronomy sessions in the desert – my first #astronomysunday post: I had the chance of attending and being the translator for an interesting astronomy lecture in the desert in Egypt. Amazing…

Being sick in Cairo – It sucks. And I wrote a post about it!

Islamic Cairo

The most beautiful sky I ever saw –  check out this post if you want to see something beautiful! Wadi el Hitan, the “valley of the whales”, is  a desert south of Cairo where you can see whales skeletons from the time when there was an ocean there.

Singapore: a photo essay about the city, and one about the island tour – I spent 1 week in Singapore in january. It was not in my plans but I’m glad it happened!

Speaking about other countries, me and Juno started the #sistercity project. My first entry was Seoul, South Korea.

This was all before the Revolution. And then…

Internet blackout in Egypt, notes – probably the most popular post I ever wrote. Internet was cut off in Egypt for many days during the revolution, and on January 28th the phones were deactivated too. In the meantime, people were massacred in the streets. If you want to know how it feels to witness all this, read this post.

Demonstrations in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt

Right on the day Mubarak resigned, I also started my Youtube channel, where I already uploaded several videos about my life in Egypt!

After the 18 days of the Revolution, things went back to normal pretty quickly. And YES, it’s safe to visit Egypt now.

I spent 4 amazing days camping on Basata beach, in the Sinai peninsula. Don’t miss my posts and photos of those days: Basata, day one – Big thoughts in a little tent – and day two – The greatest beauty.

All good things come to an end, right? Here is my post about moving out of my room in Cairo. 9 months, 1 revolution later.

When I came back to Italy, I started another blog: the Egypt Life Blog, about Egyptian everyday life in photos. Did you check it out yet?

And to take a thorn from my side, I wrote this post about prejudice against Muslims – a post I’d like everyone to read!

Sky in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy

Thank you everyone for following me in this beautiful journey! I hope I’ll be able to add more beautiful memories, photos and posts for the next anniversary.

Happy #traveltuesday to each one of you.

Love,

Giulia