Stavo girando in bici nei pressi di Kampong-Cham, quando decisi di fermarmi per riprendere fiato e ripararmi dal sole rovente. Mi sedetti all’ombra di un grosso albero, nel cortile di un piccolo convento buddhista, subito destando la curiosità di 3 piccoli monaci. Essi si sedettero di fronte a me e intentammo inutilmente comunicare. Io non parlavo khmer e loro non parlavano inglese…
Fu un incontro breve, forse troppo breve per arrivare a certe conclusioni, ma ci fu una cosa che notai nel loro atteggiamento e nella maniera in cui interagivano tra di loro. Era la gioia e la spontaneità infantile soffocata dall’austerità di un convento.
In Cambogia molte famiglie scelgono di far diventare i propri figli monaci. Spesso non si tratta di una scelta dettata da motivi religiosi quanto dalla consapevolezza che questo sarà forse l’unico modo in cui i loro figli avranno garantita un’istruzione.
L’estate 2020 sarà sicuramente molto diversa dalle altre. Ma dopo 2 mesi di reclusione, andare in spiaggia rispettando certe regole non ci fa più effetto. Se l’alternativa è passare Ferragosto sul balcone, non ci lamentiamo e sorridiamo alla vita!
Vacanze più economiche?
Ho notato che, date le circostanze particolari in cui ci troviamo, molte persone si aspettano di trovare pacchetti vacanza e strutture balneari a prezzi più bassi del solito. In realtà sta succedendo il contrario!
La maggior parte degli italiani quest’anno faranno le vacanze in Italia e molte strutture non potranno operare a pieno regime a causa delle norme d’igiene e di distanziamento sociale in vigore. E come tutti sappiamo, quando la domanda è alta e l’offerta bassa, il prezzo incrementa!
Nonostante questo, con un po’ di accortezza si può andare al mare anche senza spendere cifre spropositate. Ecco qua qualche consiglio!
Foto che non c’entra niente con l’articolo! Ma la terribile frase che ho usato sopra “ecco qua qualche consiglio” mi fatto ricordare uno dei miei pupazzi nomadi, Mr. Quackodile!
Scegli una località poco conosciuta e frequentata! In questo modo risparmierai sull’alloggio ed eviterai anche file interminabili per andare in spiaggia.
Questo non vuol dire che dovrai sacrificare l’aspetto estetico e paesaggistico. Infatti, ci sono ancora tanti angoli del paese che, oltre ad essere poco esplorati, sono anche un incanto per gli occhi.
Tre delle mete estive più popolari (e più costose) in Italia sono la Sardegna, la Puglia e la Sicilia. Eppure, anche queste destinazioni hanno zone con paesaggi mozzafiato ma con prezzi accessibili. Ecco qualche esempio:
a) Sardegna: la costa meridionale dell’isola costa meno rispetto a quella settentrionale e offre cale e spiagge bellissime, parchi naturali, siti archeologici e paesaggi da sogno. Alcune località da prendere in considerazione sono: Villasimius, Costa Rei, Pula, Chia, Oristano e non solo.
b) Puglia: il Salento è una delle destinazioni più belle del paese, ma come tutti sappiamo, non è la meta più economica. Il Gargano invece, nel nord della Puglia, ha dei prezzi più accessibili e offre dei paesaggi strabilianti. Qui, oltre alle spiagge, puoi visitare anche il Parco Nazionale del Gargano con i suoi promontori, foreste e arcipelaghi.
c) Sicilia: le isole minori – come le Egadi o le Eolie – sono meno esplorate e solitamente più economiche. Eppure, non hanno niente da invidiare all’isola principale.
2. CHE TIPO DI SISTEMAZIONE E CHE TRATTAMENTOSCEGLIERE?
L’all inclusive è quello che tutti vogliamo! Ma non sempre ce lo possiamo permettere.
a) Un’alternativa per risparmiare è affittare un appartamento in residence, in modo da poter cucinare. Alcuni residence dispongono anche di piscina privata e altri servizi come campi sportivi, bar o parchi gioco per bambini.
b) Se invece non vuoi rinunciare alla comodità dell’hotel e del trattamento di mezza pensione o pensione completa, puoi risparmiare soggiornando in un hotel che non si trova direttamente sul mare ma che offre il servizio navetta. Questa è un’opzione più economica e più comoda di quanto possa sembrare
3. QUANDO VIAGGIARE E QUANDO PRENOTARE?
Giugno e settembre sono i mesi che costano meno, e questa sicuramente non è una novità.
Per quanto riguarda invece le prenotazioni, quest’anno evita le vacanze last minute! Come dicevo prima, la domanda è alta e l’offerta bassa, quindi aspettando troppo si rischia di non trovare offerte convenienti.
CONSULENZA GRATUITA
Se ti servono più informazioni per le tue vacanze o se vuoi una consulenza gratuita, mandami un messaggio su facebook o vai su www.nomaddummy.net e compila il modulo di richiesta informazioni. Sarò felice di darti una mano.
I had been jobless for a few months, so if I really wanted vacays, they had got to be cheap! So I booked a Flixbus (a European low-cost bus company) and the cheapest (and lousiest) hostel I could find in Marseille, France, and hit the road!
Marseille is only six hours away from my hometown, Turin, and as I mentioned in my previous post, it is a city of contrasts, yet unique and fascinating nonetheless.
However, even though the city has so much to offer, its most precious treasure is hidden just outside its limits, in the “Parc Nacional desCalanques”.
Marseille, France
What Is a “Calanque“
There is no precise English word that can translate “calanque“. The closest term would probably be “fjord”. Basically, you mix a Norwegian fjord and a Southern European, Mediterranean landscape and voilà, you get a calanque!
Calanque de Sormiou
How To Get There?
There are several calanques you can visit within the National Park. One of the most popular ones (and the one I visited) is Calanque de Sormiou. There are two ways you can get there:
The boring way
Rent a car, pay the entrance fee to the park and drive all the way to the calanque.
If you enjoy trekking, go to Sormiou village by car or public bus, follow the track that goes past the entrance to the park (no fee if you’re on foot), enjoy the scenery and take lots of selfies while walking up and down the hills! Don’t forget to bring a cap, sunglasses, sunscreen and plenty of water with you.
Pros and cons
Pros: you will get a chance to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of a rough Mediterranean landscape and its clear blue water. There is a beach where you can relax and a restaurant where you can eat or buy food and drinks.
Cons: the beach is rather small, overcrowded and, just like most Mediterranean beaches, rocky.
Low-cost vacations can be fun. After all, I’m not going after fancy hotels, but rather after fancy sceneries.
Some 10+ years ago my family and I took a road trip to Spain, but somewhere in France we got lost and accidentally got into Marseille. I didn’t get to see much of it back then, but a few glimpses were enough to fill my hungry nomad eyes with wonder!
Over the years I heard and read contrasting things about this city. So FFW August 2019, I decide to go and explore Marseille by myself.
Balù in Marseille – Vieux Port
Going up to Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, one of Marseille’s main tourist attractions
View from Notre Dame de la Garde
Inside Notre Dame de la Garde
Notre Dame de la Garde, though not Marseille’s cathedral, is probably the city’s most iconic religious tourist attraction. The basilica is located on a hill, not far from the city center, and offers a bird-eye view of the whole city.
Looking towards the Mediterranean, you can see the upper-middleclass neighborhoods on the left, the Vieux Port and city center on the right, while working-class neighborhoods sprawl out towards the hills.
Marseille is known to be the most socially unequal city in France – hence its fame of city of contrasts – but that has to be read in context. No doubt there is still much work to be done in order to overcome these inequalities, yet anyone who has ever traveled to a developing country would not find Marseille extreme.
Le Panier – Marseille’s oldest neighborhood
Le Panier is definitely the place to go to for souvenir shopping
Street art in Le Panier
Centre de la Vielle Charité, a museum within Le Panier, hosting European, Asian, South American and Oceanic art. This was one of the highlights of my trip!
La Major Cathedral
Sunset by the Vieux Port
Street in Cours Julien, a bohemien neighborhood I didn’t particularly enjoy.
That moment when there’s no one around to say “Cheese!”, so you don’t smile for the camera!
Marseille is a city of contrasts, but man, what a masterpiece it is!
PS: Marseille is a beautiful city, yet what I loved most about it were the “Calanques”. I’ll talk about them in my next post.
Six months have gone by since I moved back to Italy from Bolivia and I still haven’t managed to fully overcome the reverse culture shock, but at least I’ve made some progress.
During this time I’ve been traveling locally, so I hope in my next articles I’ll manage to share with you a little bit about the beautiful spots I’ve discovered around Turin, Italy.
But in this post I want to update you one my stuffed travel buddies’ situation!
Bad News
My latest dummy, Choo-Choo Lucky-Lucky, has tragically disappeared! He was last seen on one of the Borromeo Islands of Maggiore Lake, in Northern Italy.
May he rest in peace!
This is one of the last photos I took of Choo-Choo Lucky-Lucky before his tragic end. You have been an amazing travel buddy and you will be deeply missed!
Good News
I have a new travel buddy!
After losing Choo-Choo, my friends saw my distress, so they introduced me to Luigi Balù (or Baloo). We have recently visited Marseille, France, and he turned out to be a really cool dummy to travel with.
Check out this article if you want to meet all my travel dummies and don’t miss my next post if you want to find out what Marseille, France has to offer!
In my previous article I briefly shared with you my concern over the evolution of the tourist industry and the negative effects of mass tourism.
While trying to understand this issue better, I came across Bruce Poon Tip on YouTube, who has become an inspiration for me. He is a Canadian entrepreneur who in the 90s launched GapTravel (now GTravel) and developed a business model that has a real, positive impact on host communities and on people’s life.
Bruce states that achieving a triple bottom line (financial, social and environmental benefits) is not enough and that businesses should also focus on passion and purpose.
His ideas might not be the solution to mass tourism, but at least they provide a model that can help local communities benefit from it.
Here below you can find a video where Bruce explains what he means by “going beyond the triple bottom line”.
Hey there! I haven’t been very active on this blog lately and also I haven’t traveled much in the past couple months.
But on the plus side, I have made a huge progress in dealing with the reverse culture shock caused by my return to Italy. Yes, I still feel a bit like a fish out of water and sometimes I want to run away but fish don’t run *sigh*.
A fish frustrated it can’t run
Also, my little brain has been thinking over and over about how tourism has evolved over the last decades and it keeps yelling at me: “SOMETHING MUST CHANGE!”
But what’s wrong with tourism?
Quite a few things.
Tourism has increased exponentially in the last 10 years, and it is expected to grow even more in the years to come – which is great, considering that it already represents an important percentage of many countries’ GDP.
But there is a problem: IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, not the way it is today and not for the long haul.
Two parrots worried about the future of tourism!
Why?
There are volumes and volumes that talk about why tourism has become unsustainable but, in a nutshell, these are the three main issues:
mass tourism is destroying our cultural heritage, ecosystems and local cultures
many people feel like the high number of tourists visiting their communities are a hindrance to their day-to-day life
only a small percentage (about 5%) of the tourism-generated income actually goes to the host countries
The real problem with tourists is that they mess my photos!
The place looks empty – in reality I managed to take this picture between one horde of tourists and another
Is there a solution?
I think there is. There has to be one! But we need to change the way we do tourism.
In my next post I will come up with a few practical ways we can help improve tourism and make it more sustainable (sorry, I’m not a fan of long articles). In the meanwhile, I would love to know what you guys think about this issue and if there is anything we can do to change things.
Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Zachariah 9:12, The Bible
I usually write about travels. I’m a travel blogger… or at least I’m trying to be one. But this post is about life!
This year has been marked by uncertainty from day one. End of May, I’m wondering if things can get more confusing than they are at the moment. But in the midst of it all I learned that I can find perfect peace in trusting God and who he is and I learned that there is hope in his promises and joy in his presence.
When my eyes are set on Jesus, I feel stuck in peace. A prisoner of hope!
No, you’re not ignorant. Nobody has heard of it, except people who live there. Yet Chieri is a truly dreamy place and, therefore, perfect for my “Lesser Known Places” series.
Sustainable tourism
Mass tourism is rapidly destroying our world’s natural and historic treasures and I believe one way to make it more sustainable is to promote new places and divert tourist fluxes. And my job, as a travel blogger, is to help you discover hidden gems that deserve a place on your travel wishlist.
Where in the world is that?
Chieri is a small town in the larger Turin Metropolitan Area, Italy, connected to Turin by bus n°30.
Though I had been to Chieri a few times before, I only discovered its beauty recently, when my sister decided to move there and I finally took the time to explore it.
BIG SURPRISE!
I was mesmerized! I did not know that, just a few kilometers from home, there was a small town concentrating untold stories and century-old churches.
Here are a few things you can expect to see in Chieri:
Chieri’s Duomo “Santa Maria della Scala” – an impressive late-gothic church built between the 14th and the 15th century…
Old streets where you can go for a walk and chill…
This arch, built in 1580 and located on Vittorio Emanuele II pedestrian street…
This scenic view…
…overlooked by a baroque and neoclassical church, whose first stone was laid back in 1145.
In downtown Chieri you will stumble upon historic buildings and century-old churches at every turn…
Hey peeps! I’m writing from Turin (Italy), the place that I used to call home for over 10 years and that I have to call home again. *sigh*
I’m between jobs, so I can’t really go anywhere for now, though my nomadic instincts make me want to evade. I guess I’ll just enjoy the beauty of home until I afford to travel again…
But hey, this post is about the mega, beautiful city of São Paulo!
I visited South Africa last year and I got assaulted by a gang on the first day, about 30 minutes after starting exploring Pretoria. Great way to start a journey!
But I came out alive, so I can’t complain. However, this experience made me a lot more cautious when it comes to visiting places known for not being super safe.
So previous to my trip to São Paulo I started looking for information on safety and I got paranoid, since most v/bloggers talk about it like hell on earth.
IS IT THAT BAD?
Here’s the thing: there are NO-GO zones in São Paulo, no doubt about it, and you do have to be aware of your surroundings and use common sense, just like in any big city. But is it really that bad?
NO!
If you are a tourist and your goal is to visit the main attractions Sampa has to offer, you don’t need to worry too much.
So here are a few tips that will help you stay safe and enjoy your journey without unwanted surprises.
SAFETY TIPS FOR TOURISTS
Beco do Batman, Ibirapuera Park, Avenida Paulista are safe during the day
Avenida Paulista becomes very lively after dark and going for a walk even during late hours should not be a problem
The downtown area is pretty safe during the day but I don’t recommend going there after dark
Beware of snatchers if you are trying to take photos in Praça da Sé.
Though people use their mobile phones in public, try not to flash your expensive electronic devices and/or jewelry too much.
Book your hostel/hotel in a safe place. I stayed at a hostel in Jardins, which is arguably the safest neighborhood in SP. I highly recommend it, since it is safe even after dark and close to the center (my hostel was at a 10min walk from Avenida Paulista). Hotel rooms can be pricy here but hostels are affordable.
I’m not an expert on safety but trust me, there’s no need to get paranoid about São Paulo. Just be smart!
