ADVICE FOR A PERFECT "EMOTIONAL" TRAVEL
TRAVELLING AT ANY AGE IN LIFE TO OPEN THE MIND TO THE WORLD
Travelling intended as a fundamental life experience, the most beautiful way (at all ages) to open your mind to the world, to people and to the diversity that is the true richness of the human race, to knowledge and culture understood in a broader sense.
Sometimes, the Journey can also be a fundamental moment of search of ourselves, or looking for a place that truly belongs to us… and where perhaps one day we would like to move to live (as it happened to us a long time ago with wonderful Sardinia).
There are many kinds of Travel and many reasons: CULTURE, FUN, PURE LEISURE, PURE RELAX , ADVENTURE, A MIX OF SOME ELEMENTS… but above all TAILOR-MADE FOR US IN THAT PRECISE MOMENT FOR THAT PRECISE TRAVEL AND EXPERIENCE!
I AM DEFINITELY FOR SLOW TRAVELlING !!
We would all like our Perfect Travel, meeting our expectations of the moment, our needs and preferences, respecting a budget and obtaining the best quality/price ratio! I know well that unfortunately, it is not always enough to spend a lot of money in order to achieve what we are looking for… And for me, doing it yourself is not only possible… but from my experience (more than 20 years) with a bit of practice, certainly dedicating time.. you will get better results than if you rely on other people ! THE KEY IS PLANNING AND ORGANIZING IN ADVANCE !!
Have I always done everything right and never been fooled ? Of course no ! It is logical that me too i have learned a lot thanks to direct personal experience and also after having made some mistakes… As they say: you learn by making mistakes! So, over the years I have developed a series of strategies and tricks…they are the secret ingredients of my recipes… travel recipes ! (don’t worry, I don’t cook at all… Mario is the excellent home chef… I eat and I appreciate … and you can see that … ha ha)!
ADVICE FOR A TRAVEL RICH IN "EMOTIONAL" EXPERIENCES
Organizing everything by yourself in complete autonomy is possible and feasible! It is a MINI PROJECT! It mostly takes TIME but it’s worth it! You will be rewarded with a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY FULL OF UNFORGETTABLE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES!! You need to dedicate free time to study, do online researches and read a lot , as to be able to skim the numerous proposals and finally reach an excellent organization! I’ve been doing it for decades, having to satisfy the needs and tastes of 2 super demanding customers: Annalisa and Mario!! Each of our travels has always been organized with great dedication and precision down to the smallest details by me several months in advance. I can guarantee that no “pre-packaged solution” would never be good for me and for us…
The world is big! Every travel destination can be declined, visited and experienced in many ways! I always recommend the great VARIETY that ITALY and EUROPE in general offer !! ALWAYS TRAVELLING SLOW !!
Some common ERRORS:
- Choose for fashion reasons, because your friends have told you about this place … without first understanding whether the destination is really right for you or not…
- Continue in your habits: always go to a hotel or always rent a house/apartment… without first understanding how you would like to experience this trip or holiday, the lenght and other important personal aspects such as needs, perhaps age, any physical difficulties, others special needs …
MY TRAVEL RECIPES
THE MAIN INGREDIENTS OF MY TRAVEL RECIPES ARE:
a) I TRAVEL AS I AM: my way of being must be respected even on holiday… otherwise, it will become a problem!
b) CUSTOMIZED IDEAL TRAVEL IF I KNOW WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR: it is necessary to define very well what to aim for! for example: unbridled fun will be very difficult to combine with pure relaxation ..
c) THE CHOICE OF THE DESTINATION MUST CORRESPOND to a) + b): For example, if I cannot stand following a program organized by others minute by minute and maybe all together in a group (this is me), I must absolutely avoid organized group tours / if I’m stressed for work and I need to relax, I’ll have to avoid a too crowded destination and also tourist resorts (villages) …
ADVICE ABOUT HOW TO PROCEED (BETTER IF ENOUGH IN ADVANCE)
Some TIPS on HOW TO PROCEED:
- I recommend a dedicated notebook and start by making a written list that includes the PRIORITIES of the Travel and the various main PERSONAL NEEDS
- write the time of year (or dates) and the lenght of the trip/holiday; don’t forget the fact that some destinations require a minimum stay of some days.. I always avoid the “hit and run” trip ! Instead, I postpone certain trips until I have the necessary time…
- STUDY SOME FAVORITE DESTINATIONS, by reading ab out information about the places on tourism websites (even better if in foreign languages by considering a foreign destination…) and taking note of the places that best correspond to us! Don’t forget to delve into THE SEASONALITY OF THE PLACES, in terms of climate, environment, periods of increased tourism, …
- Once the DESTINATION has been defined (maybe 2) – example SARDINIA SUMMER: delve deeper into tourism websites about the various areas to understand which part of the place (island) best suits to the type of holiday I wish.. as well as events taking place on parts of year (if they are of interest )
- Visit the tourism websites of the chosen destinations
- Search and view PHOTOS of the places / locations – for example, to better understand the area / beaches / towns / places of cultural interest
- Study the flights/ ship / car / train connections … and the availability in the periods of interest
- Start doing researches on different websites dedicated to booking Hotels / Apartments / Houses.. Be careful here! save your favorite solutions and write them down! Remember that the DIRECT WEBSITE OF THE HOTEL / APARTMENT WILL ALWAYS OFFER YOU THE BEST PRICE (that’s why you are here on my website !!) and it is often easy to find just by typing the name of the accomodation on the web search engine
- For Special Experiences, get in touch and, if possible, consider to book them in advance…
- When you are ready, I recommend taking your time to book the means of transport and the accomodation on the same day, one after the other, so as to be sure to match the dates!