Since that late August day, I knew where I was heading.
It was not a career in the bank anymore, but it wasn't an easy altough slow life in my hometown of Cadoneghe as well. It wasn't a life close to my family, to my friends and to all my childhood landmarks: the soccer field, the local church, the park, the walking path on the river bank, the pub. It was no more a life where Monday was soccer game, Friday and Saturday was anywhere around with my buddies and Sunday was a boring day spent wondering what to do. Nope.
It appeared it was going to be a life where I'd have been alone first of all, not being able to count on my family's close support, or my friends' company. It looked like I was going to be quite far away too. The first destinations I was considering - Argentina or New Zealand - ain't as close as Rome, you know! And it also looked like I'd have had to provide everything I needed by myself. From money to pay rent, bills, transportation and amenities to information on how to get around or receive health care or pay taxes. I was not really practical with that in my own country, therefore that whole thought kind of scared me a bit at first.
But I was about to be free. No more waking up at 6.50 each morning. No more customers yelling at me for nothing or bosses asking me for goals objectively impossible to reach. No more routine, no more preconcepts, no more silly, false behaviours, no more acting in a certain way to please people you know could be otherwise offended, no more staying at home, no more same faces, same shit every damn day, week, month and year. Wow. I couldn't wait!
You might get the impression I was extremely sick with my life at the time. Actually, you're right. I was. And I think the thing that was annoying, destroying me the most was routine.
Routine to me is not just doing the same things over and over again, in a scheduled fashion. Routine to me involves people as well. Saying that working out 3 times a week for 2 hours was my main interest tells a lot. I was bored. It bored the heck out of me to have a job that involved the same tasks and people every single day. It bored the heck out of me too to find myself in situations like not knowing what to do on a Friday night, or going to the same old places every time, or seeing the same people ALL-the-time. Plus, after the travels I had done already, I felt like my backyard didn't suit me fine anymore. I needed more. I needed wilderness, unknown country, vast lands, more wildlife. What could I've found over here? A trashed river bank? A public park? A cultivated field with maybe a fox hiding somewhere? (that of course would have at least 3-4 farmers trying to kill her, that's how it works over here. Any animal bigger or more dangerous than a songbird has to go, dammit)
I had some mountain side, yes. That comes for a price here though, which is seeing people everywhere. I haven't done extensive travelling in the Alps, but I've done my share. And I can't remember of a place that felt really isolated, wild. There were always horses on a pasture, cows grazing, or people sitting around a hut at 2500 meters sipping on a hot cocoa or eating fine salami and polenta. Oh man, not my stuff anymore. My concept of nature was getting wilder, and my typical recreational place involved having the chance of getting well away from the crowds, with even the possibility of getting LOST or in danger because of some harmful wildlife. It kind of added some thrill.
Walking in the mountains with cows around wasn't for me anymore.
The routine that involved the same, tasteless landscapes and the same people every time was killing me. I felt like the energies I knew I had were fading. I didn't show interest in anything but travels.
Sometimes I try to put myself in my friends. I have never pretended to be a necessary member of my bunch, but I think losing a friend - or having it around the way I was hanging around - can hurt, somehow. I think I wasn't stimulating for them at all back then, but that's how life goes. You can't pretend to be 16 all your life. You can fake you retain the same interests and energies and willing forever. I actually sincerely disliked the way most of the times we behaved, like we had to do certain things, we had to go out, we had to call on everyone.. otherwise what? We wouldn't be friends anymore?! C'mon now. That's life, you grow up, you might feel less close to certain friends than to others, and you have to accept it. You might be willing to spend an entire week sitting on the couch reading, and that's all good. Nothing wrong with that.
To me, it felt like all that was wrong, and that we had to be all friends, all good to each other forever no matter what. Yeah, I was a bit over that too.
I wasn't happy with my job, I wasn't 100% with my buddies and I didn't have nice recreational opportunities to overcome that deficit.
Guess leaving was the only escape!
It then came time to sit down at my desk again and start to organize.. everything.
Ain't no easy thing, I'll tell you right away.
It involves a lot of research, of nights spent on a computer screen sending emails or skyping the other end of the world. It involves a lot of activity and it penalizes lazyness.
I was already spending 7.5 hours a day sitting in front of a computer at the bank, and I had to integrate that dose with some more hours at home.
One thing is sure: it teaches you a lot, about everything.
First thing I had to come up with was a game plan. How long would I've been away for? Where would I like to go? How much money would I need? How long could I go on for with my savings? Where could I work in case I needed more?
These and other questions needed to be addressed. It wasn't an easy task. It's like giving an 8 years old boy a very difficult math problem. I was particularly bad at that, for instance - math has never been my thing!
I started with what someone would label as a "very stupid thing". I opened Google Maps.
I wasn't any genius in geography and I thought a world map might help. I got to know where places actually were located. I realized distances. I started to factor in airfare money, climate, demography, occupation. I basically did some basic but comprehensive research on each country that persistently popped up in my mind. And I started with New Zealand.
It came to life at first while researching with idiot queries like "best country to visit in the world". New Zealand, as of now, ranked for 3 straight years as the best country in the world for travellers. I said to myself, "Must be worth a shot!". Readings from blogs such as the ThornTree of the Lonely Planet just confirmed what I previously found. Examining carefully the country on Panoramio (a useful website with Google Maps interface and plenty of pictures from travellers all over the world) I had the strong impression that that country was really a must-see.
It wasn't alone on top of the list though. To name a few, these were the places I definitely wanted to visit, for a reason or another: U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Australia, Thailand, Nepal, South Africa, Iceland, Japan, and possibly some side trips somewhere nearby each of the aforementioned.
One in particular sit high on the list and was the only competitor for a starting place.
It was Argentina.
It was not a career in the bank anymore, but it wasn't an easy altough slow life in my hometown of Cadoneghe as well. It wasn't a life close to my family, to my friends and to all my childhood landmarks: the soccer field, the local church, the park, the walking path on the river bank, the pub. It was no more a life where Monday was soccer game, Friday and Saturday was anywhere around with my buddies and Sunday was a boring day spent wondering what to do. Nope.
It appeared it was going to be a life where I'd have been alone first of all, not being able to count on my family's close support, or my friends' company. It looked like I was going to be quite far away too. The first destinations I was considering - Argentina or New Zealand - ain't as close as Rome, you know! And it also looked like I'd have had to provide everything I needed by myself. From money to pay rent, bills, transportation and amenities to information on how to get around or receive health care or pay taxes. I was not really practical with that in my own country, therefore that whole thought kind of scared me a bit at first.
But I was about to be free. No more waking up at 6.50 each morning. No more customers yelling at me for nothing or bosses asking me for goals objectively impossible to reach. No more routine, no more preconcepts, no more silly, false behaviours, no more acting in a certain way to please people you know could be otherwise offended, no more staying at home, no more same faces, same shit every damn day, week, month and year. Wow. I couldn't wait!
You might get the impression I was extremely sick with my life at the time. Actually, you're right. I was. And I think the thing that was annoying, destroying me the most was routine.
Routine to me is not just doing the same things over and over again, in a scheduled fashion. Routine to me involves people as well. Saying that working out 3 times a week for 2 hours was my main interest tells a lot. I was bored. It bored the heck out of me to have a job that involved the same tasks and people every single day. It bored the heck out of me too to find myself in situations like not knowing what to do on a Friday night, or going to the same old places every time, or seeing the same people ALL-the-time. Plus, after the travels I had done already, I felt like my backyard didn't suit me fine anymore. I needed more. I needed wilderness, unknown country, vast lands, more wildlife. What could I've found over here? A trashed river bank? A public park? A cultivated field with maybe a fox hiding somewhere? (that of course would have at least 3-4 farmers trying to kill her, that's how it works over here. Any animal bigger or more dangerous than a songbird has to go, dammit)
I had some mountain side, yes. That comes for a price here though, which is seeing people everywhere. I haven't done extensive travelling in the Alps, but I've done my share. And I can't remember of a place that felt really isolated, wild. There were always horses on a pasture, cows grazing, or people sitting around a hut at 2500 meters sipping on a hot cocoa or eating fine salami and polenta. Oh man, not my stuff anymore. My concept of nature was getting wilder, and my typical recreational place involved having the chance of getting well away from the crowds, with even the possibility of getting LOST or in danger because of some harmful wildlife. It kind of added some thrill.
Walking in the mountains with cows around wasn't for me anymore.
The routine that involved the same, tasteless landscapes and the same people every time was killing me. I felt like the energies I knew I had were fading. I didn't show interest in anything but travels.
Sometimes I try to put myself in my friends. I have never pretended to be a necessary member of my bunch, but I think losing a friend - or having it around the way I was hanging around - can hurt, somehow. I think I wasn't stimulating for them at all back then, but that's how life goes. You can't pretend to be 16 all your life. You can fake you retain the same interests and energies and willing forever. I actually sincerely disliked the way most of the times we behaved, like we had to do certain things, we had to go out, we had to call on everyone.. otherwise what? We wouldn't be friends anymore?! C'mon now. That's life, you grow up, you might feel less close to certain friends than to others, and you have to accept it. You might be willing to spend an entire week sitting on the couch reading, and that's all good. Nothing wrong with that.
To me, it felt like all that was wrong, and that we had to be all friends, all good to each other forever no matter what. Yeah, I was a bit over that too.
I wasn't happy with my job, I wasn't 100% with my buddies and I didn't have nice recreational opportunities to overcome that deficit.
Guess leaving was the only escape!
It then came time to sit down at my desk again and start to organize.. everything.
Ain't no easy thing, I'll tell you right away.
It involves a lot of research, of nights spent on a computer screen sending emails or skyping the other end of the world. It involves a lot of activity and it penalizes lazyness.
I was already spending 7.5 hours a day sitting in front of a computer at the bank, and I had to integrate that dose with some more hours at home.
One thing is sure: it teaches you a lot, about everything.
First thing I had to come up with was a game plan. How long would I've been away for? Where would I like to go? How much money would I need? How long could I go on for with my savings? Where could I work in case I needed more?
These and other questions needed to be addressed. It wasn't an easy task. It's like giving an 8 years old boy a very difficult math problem. I was particularly bad at that, for instance - math has never been my thing!
I started with what someone would label as a "very stupid thing". I opened Google Maps.
I wasn't any genius in geography and I thought a world map might help. I got to know where places actually were located. I realized distances. I started to factor in airfare money, climate, demography, occupation. I basically did some basic but comprehensive research on each country that persistently popped up in my mind. And I started with New Zealand.
It came to life at first while researching with idiot queries like "best country to visit in the world". New Zealand, as of now, ranked for 3 straight years as the best country in the world for travellers. I said to myself, "Must be worth a shot!". Readings from blogs such as the ThornTree of the Lonely Planet just confirmed what I previously found. Examining carefully the country on Panoramio (a useful website with Google Maps interface and plenty of pictures from travellers all over the world) I had the strong impression that that country was really a must-see.
It wasn't alone on top of the list though. To name a few, these were the places I definitely wanted to visit, for a reason or another: U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Australia, Thailand, Nepal, South Africa, Iceland, Japan, and possibly some side trips somewhere nearby each of the aforementioned.
One in particular sit high on the list and was the only competitor for a starting place.
It was Argentina.
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