HOW MY PASSION FOR TRAVELLING STARTED
I was born and raised in a small town near Turin in the North of Italy. As a child, I loved drawing and I was dreaming about becoming a fashion stylist, however, I never got a chance to seriously improve my creative skills, not even at school and I probably didn’t believe enough in myself. When the time of choosing the college finally came, I was confused about my future and I ended up following my parents’ advice: I chose accountancy and I hated it.
During my studies, the only thing that was getting me through the day were the Sunday’s trips with my parents (when I didn’t have to study) and the summer holidays. These were the only occasions when I felt happy, free and enthusiastic. I think this was probably the moment when my passion for travelling started. After getting a professional diploma in accountancy, I enrolled at the university and got a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism.
My dream was to travel the world as a tour escort but before doing that, I wanted to make some work experience and improve my English.
With this in mind, I applied for one of those EU programmes for education and training, that give you free accommodation in a family and find you an unpaid internship in a company.
I was selected along with six other people to take part in this programme: destination London. That was just perfect. My plan was to find a job and a room while I was there and start a new life and experience after completing my internship.
However, as we know, life does not always go in the way we expect, and it always messes up with your plans! I had just given up on the illusion of finding the “true love” and decided to focus on myself, when, just a few months before leaving for London, I met a boy and… I let you guess! We fell in love!
Crossroads: choosing between your dreams and the love of your life?
You would call it “love at first sight:” I had finally met that someone who made me feel special and that really felt like my other half. I had to choose between my career and my first true love! I went to London anyway, however, during the time spent there, I kept thinking about him, I missed him, and I didn’t know what to do next.
He had a pretty good job in Italy, and we just met so understandably, he wouldn’t move to England, whereas, I had the perfect chance to settle in London and get a job which I didn’t manage to find in Italy and make some experience. At the same time, I was feeling very bad about letting him go.
After many sleepless nights, I decided to go back to Italy and that we could have figured it all out together. We decided to take some time to know each other better and eventually consider the idea of moving together abroad.
We spent two years in Turin, enjoying our time together, in the meantime, I was looking for a decent job in tourism that never came. My boyfriend realised that he wasn’t that satisfied with his job after all, and I convinced him that he could have been more gratified by working abroad. In 2016 we finally took the decision and the courage to start a new adventure together and we moved to England, in West Sussex, where we are currently living.
I didn’t become a tour escort but I manage to realize part of my plans by moving to England together with my soulmate. It always comes a time when we must be able to compromise :). I am not sure what plans the future has for me, but for now, I will keep on travelling whenever I can!
To be continued…