On the roads of the world
Travel and writing, Simonetta's passions
Simonetta talks to you about distant places, but also about her region and her beloved Rome. On the roads of the world it's his blog where he combines his passion for travel with that of writing, between cuddles with his beloved cat.
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OF ECOLOGICAL TRAVELERS
5000 DAYS OF BLOGGING! CONGRATULATIONS! CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR START AS A TRAVEL BLOGGER?
Thanks, that's actually a great achievement. I really started by chance on a hot day in June 2006. At that time I was working as a television journalist, but the television had been sold and we were waiting to be fired. We went to the editorial office every day, but we had no work to do. So I thought I'd put together two activities that I loved doing: writing and travelling.
The blog was created to prepare and talk about my upcoming summer trip to Nepal. At that time there was little talk about blogs, no one would have imagined the evolution, or if we want the explosion, that blogs would have in a short time. They were the first, we had no goals of greatness, we really wrote just for the pleasure of it, even if keeping a blog requires a lot of effort. Of the travel blogs born in those years, the only one still in business is mine.
HOW MUCH HAS THE WAY OF TRAVELING CHANGED SINCE YOU STARTED WRITING YOUR BLOG?
Today I can say that a lot has changed. At the beginning just a little because I had always been used to keeping a travel diary anyway.
In the first years the tool changed, from the notebook (which is always there anyway) to the computer, accompanied by a tablet and telephone. The fact of having a blog led me to pay more attention to the story, precisely because it is shared. The story is not only made of words, but also of images, hence the attention to photography which over time has occupied more and more space in travel.
Returning to the question, an important change was when the first invitations to blog tours arrived, because the travel story begins before the blog, through sharing on social networks. The live story of the trip from the blog tours then also transferred to my personal travels. It probably would have happened even without the blog, today travel sharing on social networks has taken the place of travel postcards, perhaps having the blog just brought things forward a little.
WHICH TRIP CHANGED THE WAY YOU SEE LIFE?
A trip that was very important for me was the one I took to India with my friend Iolanda. We can call it my very first important trip. A journey done in close contact with the population, traveling on local trains and buses. The impact with India was very strong, nothing like what we had read in books and magazines. India leaves its mark. Since that trip not only has my way of seeing life changed, but I have changed too.
WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAKE YOUR TRIPS MORE ECOLOGICAL?
Attention to the environment and to an ecological way of life is a daily practice for me which I therefore try to implement during my travels. I say try because it's not always possible. For example, I avoid the use of disposable plastic as much as possible. While in Italy using a water bottle has been a daily practice for me for years, when traveling it is not always possible. There are destinations where the only water safe to drink is packaged water, so a plastic bottle is a must.
If I have to go on a camping trip with a camp kitchen I don't bring packs of plastic plates with me, but a simple plate, cup and cutlery kit to wash every time and reuse. Simple gestures, such as not using paper when not necessary, so all my tickets are on my mobile phone. Speaking of tickets, when choosing means of transport I try to prefer the train to the plane, perhaps choosing night trips which allow me to optimize time.
Another way of experiencing the trip in an ecological way is to prefer nature trips, for example trekking in parks and to always include experiences or activities managed directly by the local population such as an overnight stay in a village in the forest of Thailand or a dinner in a Nubian house during my trip to Egypt.
Finally, in hotels I always choose rooms without air conditioning and if there is I don't turn it on.
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