Resolutions? Nah. Just looking back at a great travel blogging year!

December 25th, 2011

I am seriously surprised by myself and in a good way. This is by far the project that I started and lasted longer in my whole life. I tell you what. I once started a website about an Italian band – I got tired. I started a blog about that band – I got tired. I started at least a million blogs, even before WordPress even existed (I was using this, lol) – even there, I got tired.

But this, people. I guess it must be my thing. Coz I didn’t get tired and 2011 was the first FULL year of travel blogging. What a great achievement! And the most incredible thing is that I can’t get enough of this!

I do have some “ffffuuuuuuuuuuu” moments of course if you know what I mean but I could never leave this little website of mine. I just love it. And even if I don’t write enough and every time I feel like I am doing too little and I always have that “I should write about this and that” thought, I guess it’s all good and this is what keeps me working on it!

I am slightly drunk while I write this, and I will probably realize what I am doing in a few days, after I read it again and again. Sorry in advance. But I love the way I am typing so quickly, easily and without thinking. I wish it was like this every time! Shall I drink more? I don’t think so, but I also believe it’s ok to make an extra toast today, it’s Christmas after all and even if I don’t like to celebrate it, I have the chance of stopping for a moment and think about the year that’s soon ending, what I did and what I didn’t, what I wish I did and what I regret. I must say, I don’t regret anything, even if as usual I made my mistakes.

Okay so the original purpose of this post was wrapping up this first travel blogging year of my life, and I must start saying: It was a GREAT one. Summing up, I can say 80% happy days, 20% not really but still remarkable.

The only new Country I visited this year was Singapore, and I remember about following the situation in Tunisia while I was there and rooting for the protestors. And when I went back to Egypt I soon had a surprise…

Singapore Marina Panorama

I can’t believe it’s been a year since January 2011, when I was in Cairo and the Revolution started. Regardless the travel blogging factor, it was definitely the most amazing and remarkable experience of my life, both in a positive and negative way. I started feeling involved in something political for the first time, after years spent in the squalid political world of Italy, blah.

I realized what fear is, what it means to be in danger, and what it feels like to be REALLY worried for someone else. Because death becomes an option.

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt

And even after the Revolution I stayed in Egypt, until May when I had to go back to Italy for different reasons, such as being broke. Nothing worse than that for a digital nomad, and I must admit I still didn’t “recover” from the broke status, so here I am still working to save up some money and keep traveling on next spring. Also, in case you were wondering, this is the reason why my trip to South America was canceled. 

Anyway after leaving Egypt my life was by no means boring – I found a job in an amazing place in Southern Italy where I had never been before and enjoyed 2 months there with my old hotel job. For the first time I drove for 1000 km in a row on my own, and had the time to think and realize how far I was going. Because yes I didn’t leave my Country but I went through the city, the countryside and the mountains, and then there was the sea again, and the highway and a steep road, and the cliffs and the dark and… the deers, and finally the destination. So-freaking-far. Still Italy, but another universe.

Gargano, Apulia, Italy

Came back from the South, I found myself in the extreme north of Italy. I am now in Breuil-Cervinia, one of the coldest places in my Country if not the coldest. Still beautiful. I will never give up saying nature always wins. You can give me a million Coliseums or Eiffel Towers or Empire State Buildings but nothing will ever beat a single Mount Cervino or even a single dune of the Sahara Desert.

I am generally happy, taking as much photos as I can but still not a pro, or anyway I don’t dare calling myself a photographer yet. Someone says I’m wrong. I don’t know, but the fact is that I still have to work to pay for my living so I can’t be a full time blogger/photographer for now.

So here is the plan for 2012 – at least for the first part of the year. I am staying here until April, hopefully I will take part in TBEX Umbria (can’t wait! But have to ask for days off… we’ll see). Then on June I will go to India and will be volunteering there for 6 months. This is the plan if nothing major happens in the meantime.

Can’t wait!

Volunteering with children in an Egyptian school

At the moment I am working full time to save up for my trip to India – and hopefully to the rest of Asia, coz I doubt I will ever come back. I am living on 300 Euros a month, hopefully I will resist until April and I will soon give myself  my Xmas present: a one way flight to New Delhi.

2011 was one of the best years in my life. I am sure it’s not a coincidence if I say this every time I spend my year traveling. New York, Egypt, Scotland. Now the long term travels start being a considerable number… And they will keep growing.

And in my “fffffuuuuuuuuu” moments when I think I don’t know what I am doing, where I am going, and I don’t know what I want and where I want to go, I shall remember I am doing exactly what I want: traveling, whenever and wherever I want, for as much time as I like, without schemes. Without a sponsor, true. But at least nobody tells me what to do, and I am sure I wouldn’t like that. So I must say, I hope 2012 will be the same as 2011 and I have the feeling it will be even better.

There are 2 things I want to concentrate on from now onwards: photography and spirituality. I also want to concentrate on the Countries I really want to see before anything else – and all of them are in Asia and Africa so I’ll concentrate on these 2 Continents more than anything else.

Plus, Iceland.

 It’s been about 1 year and a half since I started writing my blog and nowadays I have no idea how I could live without it before. This is just part of me wherever I am going and whatever I am doing. It’s like a partner that you start missing when you don’t spend enough time together.

There are some “new year’s resolutions” I keep thinking of since years, like: working out, stop biting my nails, being more self confident. But these are all things that can’t change just because the date on the calendar does, and everything will come naturally when it’s time. So no resolutions but I just wish myself to keep going as I am doing.

Keep going! :)

I wish you all the best, and I am curious to know what your resolutions are, if you have any. Happy 2012 everyone!