THE NOTEBOOK'S TRAVELS
Erika and Luca's travels
Born in 2014 as a space that combines writing, photography and travel, The Notebook Travels it is a precious source of knowledge about special places in Italy and beyond. Through collaborations and meetings, the blog evolves into a project full of work and life, ready to inspire new adventures.
Hi Erika and Luca, welcome to Easy Travel Hosting! Notebook travels, a name that recalls trips before the digital age, where notes were taken by hand. Can you tell us about this project?
Hi, thank you for giving us the opportunity to tell you a little’ of our history.
Notebook travels was born in 2014, when I (Erika) decided to create a space in which to combine my three great passions: writing, photography and travel.
The name is an almost obligatory choice because I never miss a notebook in my bag and I have always liked to jot down instant sensations when I travel. I've been writing a diary since the age of 9 and I've never stopped: journaling is a habit for me that I don't break even when I'm on the other side of the world.
The blog was therefore born as a personal need, to then become a precious place for discussion and knowledge of special people and places around Italy and beyond.
In 2015, thanks to the blog, I met (and a few months later married) Luca, who shortly thereafter left his career in law to dedicate himself entirely to his work as a photographer; with him the Viaggi del Taccuino project grows and is enriched with many photographic works. During an event to which we were invited as bloggers Luca met the press office of the Finnish Embassy and thus began a collaboration that still lasts today with numerous Embassies in Italy and the Vatican State. To show how important opportunities for work and life can arise from something done out of pure passion.
In recent years, having become parents, with a photography studio to manage and a pandemic in between, we have started to travel less and less. The passion remains and as soon as we can we carve out time even just for small family adventures, to discover corners of nature, history and beauty.
The blog has been on hold for a while’ unfortunately, because even if it doesn't seem like it, it requires a lot of care and time if you want to do it well. However, we were saddened by the idea of letting him go, for what he represented and gave us; for this reason, in recent months, we have decided to carry it forward with a new look, closer to what we have become and what we do today, a natural evolution of what has been and cannot be forgotten.
So follow us because in the next few weeks we will be active again and fill our notebook.
I would like each of you to tell me your favorite trip and why.
Here we are really in difficulty, because we can't choose between the many trips that have remained in the hearts of both of us in these 8 years together.
The first answer, as soon as I read the question, was for both of us Ireland: we had already been there years before, Luca with friends and Erika during a solo trip for her 25th birthday. Coming back together, as soon as we met, was very exciting. The warmth of Dublin, the spectacle of the Cliffs of Moher, the magic of Newgrange, the green of those endless fields and then, unexpectedly, a marriage proposal at the foot of Malahide Castle. How could it not be our heart's journey?
The other two are definitely the trip in Canada and that to Lanzarote.
The first was our honeymoon and we knew it would give us immense emotions, just like its spaces and the distances we travelled. 25 days between the east and west of the country, an unforgettable experience. Toronto is the city we loved the most, even if nature gave us the most intense emotions: waterfalls, frozen mountains, crystal clear lakes, special encounters with the animals of the large parks. Breathtaking.
The last trip we want to mention is the one to Lanzarote, a bit of a choice’ by chance it has become our favorite island. Perhaps because nature reigns supreme there too. The volcanic earth, the strength of the Ocean, the human hand that blends with the environment and creates wonders. And again the house in Saramago, the walks through the Geria vineyards, the feeling of peace at every corner. A place that seemed so distant from our imagination but which we instead discovered to be similar to our souls.
I would like each of you to tell me your dream trip and why.
This time, compared to the previous question, the answers are completely different.
For Erika the dream trip would be an on the road between Iceland e Faroe Islands, in search of the Northern Lights, breathing in the boundless spaces, the silence, the strength of nature.
For Luca, the journey of desires is instead the ancient one Egypt, for its thousand-year history, for the greatness of its civilization, for the emotion of being in the presence of timeless archaeological sites.
How much has having a child changed your travel style and do you think it is possible to travel full-time with a child?
A lot, there's no denying it. We know many couples, among blogger friends, who even after having children have continued to travel as before and more than before. For us, for various reasons, it wasn't possible and even when we did it at the beginning it was honestly complicated to match our son's needs with the rhythms we were used to. We wouldn't be talking about sacrifices but about continuous adaptation to everyone's needs, which inevitably leads to slowing down and perhaps for this reason enjoying more of the little things that previously weren't given importance while travelling.
Gabriele is a very curious child, traveling with him is a great emotion but at the moment, also due to the work commitments that keep us tied to our land, I don't know if we would be ready to travel full-time as a threesome: it is something fascinating but also very complex, at least in our eyes. We greatly admire those who are doing it, but we believe it is not something for everyone.
And we want to say it because in a historical period in which we almost exclusively talk about how beautiful and simple it is to do anything, in our opinion it is also right to underline the difficulties that we can encounter and that make us human, also according to many parents who wrote to us after some posts written on the subject and thanked us for having normalized the crises and difficulties, making them feel less alone and wrong if something didn't go as their plans.
As you know, Easy Travel Hosting uses renewable and eco-sustainable energy to power its servers. Furthermore, a tree is planted for each new hosting, actively helping reforestation and the absorption of CO2. What do you think of this project and in general, do you think it is important to seek a more sustainable lifestyle?
Your project is really interesting and we hope it is an example to many other realities. The idea of the tree is something we fully share: since 2020, we too have been giving a tree to every married couple who chooses our photography studio for their wedding reportage. A small gesture with enormous significance, if we think about how much there is still to do, also in terms of information and awareness, on the topic of sustainability and the environmental issue.
In our own small way, and especially after becoming parents, we have been careful to include small habits that are important for the environment in our daily lives: we buy as much as possible in bulk from local producers, when possible we travel on foot, we often buy second-hand accessories, clothes and toys, we use reusable and non-disposable products, such as cloth napkins at the table and steel water bottles outside the home.
Erika became a vegetarian last year and in general we try to be careful about meat consumption and to inform ourselves more and more about what we can do to defend the land we live in and our future and that of our children.
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