Ciao a tutti (Hi everybody)! I am so happy you are here! This is my first real newsletter, and I’m very excited to share it with you. I hope you like it.
These newsletters will open a window into a world of travel, adventure, risks, loves won and lost, betrayal, honor, and the goofy antics that only happen between friends. Sounds like life… yes?
It is. Mine, to be precise.
When I was 27, I left the small Italian town where I was born and started to wander. I spent the next 20 years visiting over 100 countries as a single woman. I tell stories from those years (and there are a few) in a book called “Far and Wild” that I plan to publish in November 2024.
These free newsletters will complement the book’s chapters with photographs, videos, secret insights, and other stuff from my travels. You don't need to buy the book to enjoy my newsletter, but it would be nice if you did. I need to pay for my braces!
How I (we) wrote the book
Imagine how I felt in the spring of 2020, trapped by COVID in my parent’s two-bedroom condo in Italy. The police were patrolling the streets, warning everyone to stay indoors. I could only go out to buy groceries from the local market. After so many years of freedom, I felt like a caged animal!
I was bored, so I pulled out my photo albums and started writing about my travels. Even I was amazed at how many places I had been! The pictures brought back so many fun memories and some sad ones, too.
When I was done writing, I shared my pages with Brant, who was also trapped by COVID in the United States. “These stories are incredible,” he said by phone. “We should write a book about them one day.”
That day came in January 2024, when Brant used Google to translate my words into English. Then, as he says, the fun part started — getting to the “juice” of the stories — the amusing anecdotes that make this book more than a travel journal. It is, instead, the memoir of, as he puts it: “a brave, single woman who chose to live life on her own terms.”
Oh well. I guess that’s me.
That’s the story Brant and I chose to write about, and we did it together, line by line, word by word, side by side. “Far and Wild” is truly a labor of love.
But the process wasn’t always peaceful. Working that closely with another person can get testy. It reminded me of when Brant tried to “help” in my kitchen. An American man cooking Italian food? I don’t think so.
This funny video below shows how I handled that situation.
In Italian: Questo video, rappresenta una tipica discussione tra Brant e Fabi. Quindi dopo questa serata Brant verra’ allontanato dalla cucina, per sempre. Hahahaha!
Before I go
Before I leave you with the Introduction to “Far and Wild” (found in English and Italian below my signature), I want to say again, grazie for subscribing and joining me on this journey. I plan to make it fun for you!
Even though most of these newsletters will be in English, I’ll do my best to keep my Italian friends (miei amici Italiani) interested. I will translate parts of the letter and book into our native language when possible.
As you can tell by my welcome video, I am shy about my English skills, but I have Brant to help me with that. Just not in the kitchen.
Finally, please leave comments here on Substack. I would love to hear from you.
Introduction
Whatever you see as profitable, flee from it!
Drink poison and pour away the water of life!
Abandon security and stay in frightful places!
Throw away reputation,
become disgraced and shameless!
Rumi
It may seem strange to introduce myself and this book with an invitation to drink poison. You may understandably ask: What have I gotten myself into?
But look more closely at Rumi’s quote. It’s not an invitation to die; instead, it’s an invitation to live a bolder, more expansive life, discovering and experiencing the world on your own terms. We must be willing to throw away our reputations and the expectations of others. It might even mean becoming disgraced.
But do you care? I didn’t. At the tender age of 27, I reasoned that I would miss something vitally important if I didn’t put my saddle on the wild world and hang on for the ride. The world is ours — a gift. Nothing stands in the way of our exploring it except the obstacles we imagine.
I am Italian. I was born in 1973 in Melzo, a small town near Milan. I lived in Melzo for the first years of my life. I had a good life. I thought I would be there forever. Then I drank Rumi’s poison and started to wander.
For the next two decades, as a single woman, I visited 100 countries on six of the seven continents, sailed across the oceans five times, and ran a hotel and restaurant in Africa. As a staff member on luxury yachts, I served more gin and tonics to wealthy people than I can count. I stayed in a few frightful places, often with only my backpack for a pillow.
I had lovers, some nice and some weird. More importantly, I had friends, which made me better than wealthy — it made me rich. I consider friendship to be the noblest sentiment of a human being.
I describe some exotic and beautiful places in this book, but that’s not really what the book is about. You can get that from a travel brochure! What I’m about to tell you are stories about ship-sinkings, vampire heads, curious hyenas, mutinies, manipulative men, smoking volcanoes, and a host of other jaw-dropping tales from the sea and land.
Are you ready?
Good! Take a sip of poison, and then let’s go.
Introduzione
Qualsiasi cosa vediate come redditizia, fuggite da essa!
Bevete veleno e versate via l'acqua della vita!
Abbandonate la sicurezza e rimanete in luoghi spaventosi!
Gettate via la reputazione,
diventa disonorato e senza vergogna!
Poesia di Rumi(in Italiano è difficile da tradurre)
Può sembrare strano presentare me stessa e questo libro con un invito a bere veleno. Potreste comprensibilmente chiedervi: In che senso?
Ma guardate più attentamente la citazione di Rumi. Non è un invito a morire; è invece, un invito a vivere una vita più audace ed espansiva, scoprendo e sperimentando il mondo alle vostre condizioni.
Dobbiamo essere disposti a gettare via la nostra reputazione e le aspettative degli altri, per rinascere noi stessi.
Ma che importa? A me nulla. Alla tenera età di 27 anni, ho pensato che mi sarei persa qualcosa di vitale importanza se, non avessi messo la sella al mondo, e partita al galoppo. İl mondo è un dono da scartare subito.
Nulla si frappone alla nostra esplorazione, se non gli ostacoli che immaginiamo.
Sono italiana. Sono nata nel 1973 a Melzo, una piccola città vicino a Milano. Ho vissuto a Melzo i primi anni della mia vita. Ho avuto una bella vita. Pensavo sarei rimasta lì per sempre ma ho bevuto il veleno di Rumi e ho iniziato a vagare.
Nei due decenni successivi, da donna single, ho visitato 100 Paesi in sei su sette continenti, ho attraversato per 5 volte l’oceano in barca a vela/motore e ho gestito un hotel e un ristorante in Africa. Come membro dello staff di yacht di lusso, ho servito più gin tonic a persone facoltose, di quante ne possa contare. Ho soggiornato in alcuni luoghi spaventosi, spesso con il mio zaino come cuscino.
Ho avuto amanti, alcuni belli e altri strani. Ma soprattutto ho avuto amici, tanti, che mi hanno reso quella che ora sono.
Per questo considero l'amicizia il sentimento più nobile.
In questo libro descrivo alcuni luoghi esotici , ma non è questo l'argomento del libro , le descrizioni del paese le potete trovare in un opuscolo in agenzia di viaggi.
İnvece , quello che sto per raccontarvi (affondamenti di navi, teste di vampiro, iene curiose, ammutinamenti, uomini manipolatori, vulcani fumanti) sono storie personali e sconvolgenti dal mare e dalla terra.
Siete pronti?
Bene! Bevete un sorso di veleno e partite.
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