11 Days to London: Last Things to Buy

Waking up early is my Achilles' heel. It's more than a wish, but it's for me to realize. Every night I plan to get up early and do a lot of things, but invariably in the morning I'm too sleepy to open my eyes and I snooze my alarm until exasperation. In fact, I have the innate ability of being able to hit "snooze" button without rising out of unconsciousness. Even after going through the whole to search and turn off the alarm, I usually go back to bed. I tried many different methods, but I can't still succeed.  

Today, after snoozing many times my alarm clock, I stopped it by mistake. But I wake up just in time. Washed and dressed in seven minutes, I had a very short time to arrive to medical laboratory before closing. Fortunately, I did arrive in time to do my blood test. Probably no one knows that I have a terrible fear of needles, so the doctor preferred to lie me down on the couch and I survive it.

And after it, I went shopping to relief myself. It was my lucky day: I found a beautiful pair of black jeans in the first shop where I went in. Anyway, my shopping phase was pretty fast: I just bought a neck warmer, a pack of bed sheets and some pharmacy stuff. Only few things to delete last names on my to-buy-list. But I still need an Italian coffee maker (how can I drop it?) and a travel hair-dryer (even if I shaved my hair). Hope to find very cheap items. 

I'm almost ready to pack my suitcase, but it's still too early. Should I start? Maybe at the beginning of the next week. The problem is that I have only 30 kg. to fill up. Will the space be enough? You'll discover it in the next episodes!

12 Days to London: 3 Reasons to Leave

The most tiring and stressful moment before departing is to gather all documents. A long work that includes the necessity to refer to bureaucracy. Long queues in various offices, like post office, registry office and other spaces always crowded of people.

I don't like to be in the queue: it's boring. And in Italy queues can take all day long. Fortunately, today wasn't my case. I've lost the pin-code of my prepaid credit card, so I needed to pay and subscribe a new card because shipping a new pin-code took over a week. Anyway, in a hour I did it. This was just the last stage of a long series of queues to prepare all papers.

Things in, things out. On the one hand I gathered all documents in my folder and on the other hand I got rid of some superfluous things, like unused electric cable, old cellphones and other broken computer stuff. I brought them to a communal recycling depot where they gather all same materials in a depository, trying to save and reuse as many parts as they can. It is a free service, but nobody in Italy seems to need it. People prefer to put all waste, whether recyclable or not, in the same bin. That's one of long list of unsolvable problems in this country. Unfortunately, there isn't hope something will happen in the next future: maybe Italy will never move to efficient systems to gather and recycle waste like in the rest of Europe.

Reasons to leave Italy are many and they concern especially job market, public transportation and mind-set.

a) Job: Italy has one of highest unemployment rate in Europe. Over 25% of young people doesn't have job (free stages or underpaid works are not included): a condition that is inconceivable in other European countries. This situation kill every wish of independence and bring people to drop the idea of living alone to remain at parents' house well over 30 years old.

b) Public Transport: at the end of 2012, Rome has still only two metro lines. That's the main difference with other European capitals. For example, Paris has fourteen lines, London thirteen and Berlin ten. A really great difference. Moving from a side to another of the city in Rome can take even half a day: no certainty about buses time transit, long waits even under the rain and stressful trips packed like sardines.

c) Mind-set: no respect for others, every-man-for-himself way of life, slyness against rules and institutions, non-existent meritocracy and favouritism logic, embarrassing politics class and bureaucracy. The list is still long but I prefer to stop. Do you really need other reasons?

I can't live in a country like this. There is no future. I deserve something better and I'll get it somewhere else.  

13 Days to London: Travel Talking

Talk about travel is always a romantic moment. Share experiences, ideas, desires and ways of life makes me dream. Every trip is not only a way to discover the world, but to know a new part of themselves. When you figure it out, you'll never stop travelling.

Travels require a great deal of wish and courage. It's never easy, especially when you choose a one-way trip. I was just excited and willing to begin this new experience: other people made me feel brave by telling me that I had to have a lot of courage to do such a thing. I've never thought about it. I decided to do it and I bought a ticket: the rest will come.

When your brain perceives the idea of leaving, you feel like a grasp in your stomach. I think it's really important to go away by yourself, because being with someone else involves an inevitable sense of responsibility and coherence inside your intimate person. Instead, what you need is a reset with the past, a change of character and personality that make you a different person just after a step out of your door.

That's the point. Travel is an inner impulse: you can pretend to ignore it by contenting yourself of your life or try to follow your instinct. It's always a matter of choice. I chose the second option.