Interview (27) - Alice from Italy

Hello! 

I’m Alice - 26 years old, from Italy.

I’m currently in Australia travelling around and working as au pair. 

Probably there is more than one mistake in what I’ve written. Sorry for that. Hope that everything make sense... 

1. What was your inspiration or the event/idea that made you want to travel? After I studied as Erasmus student @St. Andrews University in Scotland I didn’t feel good back home in Italy. I wanted to travel more more and more. I wanted to see places, meet people from other countries. During my 9 months in Scotland I met a lot of amazing people and been in beautiful places so why stop and stay close in a office?
2. What was your first travel experience? Do you mean solo experience? For sure Scotland. I was 21 at the time. I went there on my own without other italian students. Everyone was worry and keep asking “Are you ok?” - “Did you meet other italians?” . I was so excited to be there on my own and as soon as I met my housemates and decorate my room I was the happiest person in the world. My second solo experience has been Paris for 8 days during NYE in 2011. 8 Fantastic days!
3. Have you ever felt lonely travelling solo? No I feel in peace travelling on my own. I do whatever I want whenever I want. I don’t have to deal or fight with anyone. I want to go to see that museum today? have lunch at 3pm? or change my plan at the last minute? I do it. 
4. Do you have any fun stories of things that happened to you that you realized even at the time, “This never would have happened if I had been traveling with someone else?” Once in Paris I didn’t resist and I bought a chocolate crepe. I was wearing my white winter jacket. The only one I had with me. I was aware to be careful while eating the crepe walking on the street. I didn't want to sit down in the bar. VERY BAD IDEA. I didn’t notice that I was loosing chocolate drops all over my jacket from the bottom of the crepe. At the end for the the rest of the week I had to cover my jacket using my scarf in very uncommon ways. Shame on me! For sure if I friend was with me I would have agreed to eat my crepe at the bar!
5. What was your best travel experience? So far the one I’m doing at the moment. I left Europe in December 2012. I spent a day and one night wandering around Dubai. I spent 6 months working as Aupair and travelling around New Zealand, I’ve been at the Cook Island on holiday and now I’m in Australia. I worked 8 months as Aupair in Melbourne and now I’m working in a farm in Queensland.
6.  Is there anything you would have done differently/ any regrets, if you could do it over again? No regrets at the moment. Luckily ;) Maybe if I could go back I would spent 1 year or more in New Zealand and after that move to Australia.
7. Worst experience? None at the moment.
   
8. What’s the strangest situation you have found yourself in? In Rarotonga for 2 days I’ve been the only girl in the hostel. I ended up hanging out with 12 guys ahahahah very funny. Always in Rarotonga with those crazy guys we knew that in a hotel close by there was a toga wedding party. We decided to go around 9pm we took our bed sheets wrap them around us, took some palm leaves to put on our heads and we walked to the party. Ahahah it has been very strange to be at wedding party of strangers!
9.  Where will you never return to? My problem is that I want to go back to all the places I’ve been already!
10. What advice would you give women traveling solo to your home country? Be patient because Italians don’t speak English XD. If you travel by train remember to put your ticket in the yellow machine at the platform. Otherwise you get a fine. Eat a lot of food!
11.  What are your future travel plans? The list is never ending XD. If everything goes ok I can stay in Australia until June 2015. Hopefully I can do some road trips in the Outback. Then I’d like to travel around Asia for a couple of months.
12. What are your top three tips for women traveling solo? Be prepared for anything, take with you one good book, make friends.
13. What would you tell women who are looking to travel alone but worry about their safety? Don’t be worry at first. When you travel on your on own you will realize how many other women are doing the same thing. And most of the time you won’t be alone cause you meet people at the hostel, along the track you are walking. Furthermore if  you book a tour or you have a bus pass it is even easier to make friends.
14. Couchsurfing..what do you think about that? I think it is an amazing thing. I used the website to find hosts in New Zealand - Tasmania and Australia. I always had beautiful experiences. I’ve only been host by guys. Everything went well. All my hosts were very kind and gave me a lot of tips about where to go and what to do.
    
15. How do you pay for a life of travel? I saved some money while I was working in Italy, then I worked as Aupair. Working as Aupair is good because you can stay in a city for months, you have accommodation and food provided by the family + pocket money that you can use to travel during the weekend or afterwords.
16. Tell us about the best food you have ever eaten on your travels? The brownies and the fish pie that my host kiwi mum usually cooks, I had the best burger ever in Queenstown - New Zealand. I love the pavlova that my Aussie mum makes. Now in the farm I’m eating and learning how to cook Taiwanese and Thailand food. My favorites at the moment are Taiwanese pancakes, Pad Thai and steamed ban. 
17. What is the most breathtaking view you have ever witnessed on your travels In New Zealand everything is breathtaking: Esmerald lakes and the Vulcanos during the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand, View of Queenstown from the Gondola in New Zealand, Lake Tekapo in New Zealand are only few. Then the view of Mauri Lagoon from my room in Rarotonga - Cook Islands. 12 Apostles in Australia, Blue Mountains in Australia, view of Hobart from Mt. Wellington in Tasmania. Isle of Skye in Scotland. Neuschwanstein castle in Fussen - Germany. Saleccia Beach in Corse. Dolomites in Italy.
    
18. What do you miss about your home when you go traveling? I miss my cat Giuliano and I miss pizza ;)
19. What item will you always carry in your backpack? My moleskine travel journal…That often I don’t write as much as I should and a national geographic travel book. My camera of course!
20. Who was the kindest or most generous person you met on your travels, and what did they do? Once in Wellington me and other 2 girls couldn’t find the start of the cable car to go to the botanic garden. A man who saw us struggling with the map asked us if we needed help and he offered to take us there. He walked with us for more than 15 min. In Tasmania one of the guy who hosted me couldn’t pick me up as agreed cause he got some problems but he gave me all the instructions where to leave my bags and where to go until he was back in town. I had a wonderful time at the Gorge in Launceston and at night he cooked a wonderful dinner for me.
    
21. What have you learned from travelling? The more you travel the more you want to travel. The need of travel doesn’t stop.
22. Who inspires you? What other travellers do you look up to? No one in particular. Let’s say that I follow my heart and my curiosity. But I must admit that the first time I watched “Into the wild” I’ve been really impressed by the life trip that Christopher McCandless did. Impressed by his strength into achieve his dream (Alaska) to try to give a sense to his life. I said to myself that night on the couch: “Ali you have to go as well - it’s time to listen this voice inside you and do your own trip.” I like a lot this quote of Dalai Lama : “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions”. At the moment travelling makes me happy!