Addendum edit 20-Nov-2011: some randomness in London

The challenge I am talking about is to visit 40 countries before you turn 30.
I stumbled upon this blog a few weeks ago and it’s really enjoyable to read, full of information and well written. However, if I wanted to take the challenge, I would be facing two major obstacles: 1- I do travel for work, but not that often and not to a different country every time, and 2- I listed all the countries I’ve been to already (visited or lived in), leaving me with 18 countries to visit in 7 years. Quite a challenge indeed!

So, here it is… “the list”

1. Italy
2. France
3. Monaco (should I also count Vatican City?)
4. United Kingdom
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Denmark
8. Sweden
9. Germany
10. Austria
11. Switzerland
12. Tunisia
13. Gabon
14. South Africa
15. Botswana
16. Zimbabwe
17. United States of America
18. Ecuador
19. Colombia
20. Venezuela
21. Santo Domingo
22. Aruba

Apparently, I am now member of the exclusive club of connoisseurs of Venezuelan rum. Maybe I should add this to my CV...

I haven’t posted anything for quite a while, but I have a somewhat good excuse. I was travelling. As usual…

This time I spent about 10 days in Pisa and Versilia, the place I call ‘home’ in Italy. Then I spent 10 days in Venezuela, visiting my parents. Caracas isn’t exactly the safest city on earth, yet the country ‘has potential’. There are nice places to visit and I had a good time. I even visited a rum factory and after a tasting session and a tour of the factory I received a ‘certificate’ to prove I know Venezuelan rum (see photo). That was funny.
But Venezuela was also a good place to make you realise how lucky we are. We take so many things for granted in our lives and seeing misery and poverty on TV is not the same as seeing it for real, with your own eyes, outside of your car window.

Now I’m back to the Cotswolds, planning 2 short business trips in September (London and Belfast). I hope October will slow down a bit, but I’m not sure. Stay tuned!

Three nut cases.

One beach.

Just 2 hours away from the Cotswolds cottages

Pagham Beach, near Chichester, West Sussex

Theme Song… Morcheeba – The Sea

My morning coffee mug and some Italian kitchen essentials

A few days ago, my friend Anna stumbled upon a very interesting blog, the Grounded Traveler. We have so much in common with some of the stories this guy posts on his blog: the highs and lows of expat life, the joys of travelling and the downsides of not having steady roots in any country in particular, yet still feeling some kind of national identity.

Anna is from Spain, has lived in Italy and is currently residing in Norway. The Errant Spaniard.

I am Italian, I’ve lived in Africa and Latin America for some time and I am now working in the United Kingdom. The Errant Tuscan.

Errant.

Anna came up with this word and I agree, it sums up perfectly our lives so far. We will keep writing about our experiences, sharing thoughts and photos from our errant lives. Anna is a very talented designer and photographer and you can visit her newly refurbished blog here.

I’m getting ready to fly to Stockholm on Friday. A week in Stockholm and Uppsala, mainly for work, but also to visit the town. In May the weather is lovely and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the place and get another chance to put my Swedish to test, haha! Wish me luck…

So… I don’t think I will blog in the next 10 days or so, but I shall catch up by posting nice photos of my trip afterwards!

Vi ses

I’m on my way to Denmark and Sweden. I’ll take tons of photos, I’m sure. For now just a little snapshot of Heathrow check-in area

Just about half the collection

I’ve been putting some order in my collection of Moleskine notebooks, diaries and so on. I use one as agenda (click here to know more about this moleskine hack) but I like the very small, light blue diary. It’s really super-pocket size. I also really like the National Gallery special edition notebook, the red one in the picture on the left. If you get tired of the black, plain ordinary pocket Moleskine, that’s the one for you.

But Moleskines are rarely ordinary. Not only hacks, but every notebook has its own taste and the level of customisation one can give to these notebooks is infinite.

For example, I have one ruled, large notebook that had become my recipes book. As I cook or whenever I am at a cookout, I take note at a small, ruled, reporter notebook. I scribble down notes, tips, tricks and such. Some recipes I don’t keep, but others will be written down in the “official” book later.

Another large notebook is ready for my upcoming travels to Scandinavia. I usually use a plain one, so that I can scribble down, draw or sketch down places, stick photos, bits of maps and so on.

So, what is your favourite notebook? If you have a favourite. How do you like to take notes? Just scribble down anything or follow your OCD* tendencies?

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*OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or the “absolutely everything has to be kept in a certain order, at all times”.

Towards the unknown...

2011 has just started and I’m already thinking of which countries to visit this year. I will most likely travel during Easter/Spring break and then also in the Summer. I wish I had time off work not during the holidays to avoid crowds of tourists and unreasonably high fares. But oh well, I’ll be happy anyway.

1. I have to say, Sweden is certainly on the list. I have to practice my Swedish after all, right? Although I’d like to visit Stockholm and Göteborg, I think my first visit will be Malmö. That’s because I will go to Denmark in April, so crossing the bridge is the easiest way. We shall see if my Swedish is good enough by then.

2. Denmark is also another country I will certainly visit. The first time was in 2005 and I haven’t seen my friend Helle ever since, so I can’t wait to visit again. Even though my Danish is a disaster, I’m sure I’ll have a blast!

3. Then I think I will go to Caracas this Summer. My parents are now working there, so I’ll get the chance to add Venezuela to the list of countries I’ve either lived in or just visited. I’m not sure what exactly to expect from Caracas, but it’s always nice to visit family.

Then, this year I think I’ll keep my travels between Europe and Latin America. Where would you like to go? Asia, Australia… Vanuatu Islands?!