I was in St. John’s when a colleague showed me a photo of an iceberg in Twillingate, five hours north, and I knew I needed to see it. I said one sentence out loud, backed by a very strong desire. What I found there was bigger than the ice: people who sing, fish, and fix anything, and who welcomed a random Italian like one of their own. I left amazed, and I’m still thinking about how ordinary Life can look when it’s this extraordinary...
For years, I've had a habit that sits somewhere between confidence and delusion. Before the interview. Sometimes before the application. I open Google Maps and change my work location to a place that exists only in my imagination. Most of the time, it feels ridiculous. Until one day, it becomes my commute...
From Tokyo Drift to living in Tokyo: a personal story of Japan, its cities, and the moments that made me wonder what life there could have become...
Today Yerevan turns 2807, older than Rome, and I left only four days ago with the feeling that something unfinished remained within me. Pink stone at sunset, fountains offering free water to anyone passing by, and Mount Ararat standing still across the border. This is not a city you simply visit. It is a city that reflects you back at yourself, and it taught me that rebuilding is sacred...
We all know someone who says it: the trip that was always about to happen. I have used that sentence too, except mine was true. I postponed my trip to Fiji four times, from August 2020 to December 2022, and still travelled to 12 countries in 2021 alone. Some people travel no matter what, and others hide behind a used and reused phrase. So in a world of “I was meant to go, but you know? Covid...”, be the one who says...
Tokyo, after a day without sleep, an evening of sake with my friend’s father, and a night of clubbing. I woke up in the apartment, saw sunlight through the window, and stood there in my underwear thinking, “This is my first sunrise in Japan. I will never forget this moment.” Then I looked at my watch. 05:30? Not quite...
Nearly 10 years of travelling, countless international flights, and every mistake you can make along the way. Here is what I learned: when you land matters more than when you leave, a nap is the enemy, and your first night is for sleeping, even while your friends are out having fun. Follow these three rules, and next Christmas you can ask that uncle who hated his holiday if he broke any of them...
I expected a tropical beach house, or a criminal hideout in the woods. What I got was a small cottage near a forest, smaller than my own home and priced at 180 euros per night. I was ready to hate it. Then I fell asleep on the couch after a kilo of pasta, woke up at 3 am to a sky that was sunset on one side and sunrise on the other, and walked barefoot into the quietest forest I have ever heard. Now I think I understand why Finns need their cottages...
I have studied in 4 different countries, and Amsterdam has three secrets that no brochure will tell you. The first is that it rains for weeks, and that is actually a gift. The second is a system I call Bicycle-Democracy, where every student gets equally wet. The third is a surprise about the professors, who show up to class the same way you do. And one more rule will make the sunny days in Amsterdam unforgettable...
No English, not much money, no plans, just a one way ticket. “What will you do there? Where will you live?” Everyone asked. “I do not know yet. I will figure it out once there,” I answered. I would give everything to go back to that morning, the 26th of September 2011, to feel that uncertainty once more. You may think it was fear, but it was the best expression of Life. I was 20, I was not ready, and I went anyway...
I had just spent a whole year in Australia, so I forgot one small detail: in most of South East Asia, tap water is a huge no-no. I refilled my bottles from the tap anyway, then went to eat Pad Thai on Khao San Road. Halfway through the plate, I noticed a homeless man buying bottled water, then another, then another. And that is how three strangers probably saved my one month trip...
Brisbane, 2011. A classmate hands me a chocolate, then asks, “Where is my chocolate?” I had no idea what she meant. Then a few friends led me to a Korean shop and explained everything with one date: 11 – 11. Look at it closely and you will see the sticks. And my answer to whether Europe needs a PEPERO Day?...
I’m almost impossible to surprise. Once, I even sat through a surprise birthday party at my gym, pretending I had no idea. But in April 2016, on a dark, freezing night in Aktau, Kazakhstan, a hand grabbed my arm in a crowded arrivals hall. “Luca! It’s me!” It was Roza, the friend who had sworn she couldn’t meet me that night. Read how a promise made in a Hong Kong nightclub led me to the shores of the Caspian Sea...