Let me take you on my journey of adventure, overcoming physical limitations, philosophy, technology and love; life in all its color, beauty and darkness. Come, and follow me...
As I walk uphill with my trusty, but ever so shaggy backpack on my shoulders, I feel the rain slowly penetrating my not so waterproof jacket. The reality any further than 40 meters away from me is obscured by thick fog, although I know I should be surrounded by amazing natural scenes here at about 1100 meters height close to Gran Sasso (Big Rock). Hitchhiking further up the mountain, I arrive at a muddy road next going past an abandoned hotel, and after a short walk I see a white ribbon hanging from a bush. I'm looking for a place people some people call home; a place of fire, dance, meditation, sharing and reflection. After continuing along the path for a while, doubting whether or not to interpret the white ribbon as a sign that I'm on the right path, the muddy path grows narrower with rocks to the left allowing for very little space to move, and the abyss on the other side. It's getting dark, it's still raining, and I'm sensing that death might be very near if I continue along this path. I decide to get back to the village before the dark, and to take the offer to sleep in the car of a guy who was looking for the same place. "You know what's the weird thing? There are no cars nor hippie vans around here, so they might have changed the location... Ah, and did you know a local died 2 days ago trying to go up that path? It seems these people always pick the rainiest, shittiest places for us to get to." Time to sleep, or at least pass the night fighting the cold and listening to the rain that just won't stop.
Travel is a big part of what currently defines my life. Since I was a kid, I knew that my life was going to consist of travel so I learned a profession that would allow me the necessary freedom. Right now, I'm continuously searching for balance as travel and nature enable me to look at life at a distance. There are few things important to me and necessary for a full and balanced life: love, nature and growth. My journey is not about seeing as many things as I can or adding more countries to my list, but instead to be open to life listening to and feeling life stories of friends I make everywhere, and being in touch with nature as I lose myself in the simple act of walking while I navigate different types of terrain (although mountains do remain my favorite.) Basically, I just want to feel alive, to be stunned by beauty, to trust, to enter in empathy with the people life places on my path, to feel grass under my feet, to touch those who I love and to push both my limits and help others to push theirs and realize just what we can be as human beings.
The next day we get a message telling us that the road to where we need to be starts from a village nearby. That road should be shorter and safer than the one where we are now. We go there and stop in a bar first, where I meet people that I've met the year before, among with the people that gave me a lift the day before. We discuss life, nature, drugs and love, until I decide that I've been waiting long enough for the rain to stop and it's time to go. So I take my backback, still half-wet and leave alone in the rain. After a while, I find the start of the path and after a passer-by offers me a pear, I take off to climb the mountain. It's muddy and I'm barefoot with a pair of not very reliable sandals, but at least the rain stops and the fog has cleared. The path is pretty steep and once the beautiful medieval village I started from disappears behind me, paths gets narrow and slippery again and once I cross the river hoping not to fall with my backpack in the torrent that's grown a bit wild because of the rain, I start to follow the stream up the mountain using rocks and branches to help me not to break any bones or hurt myself in other stupid ways.
Ah, did I tell you that I'm on a permanent acid trip? Or at least, that's what quite some people think when they first meet me. Doctors messed up during my birth, so I was born late, had to be re-animated to start breathing and the first prediction about my life was that I'd never be able to walk. Thank you medical system! Oh, could someone please take responsibility and personally apologize to my mother? Well, no... Apparently childbirth is not important enough to hold people personally accountable for their actions. Fortunately, I have stubborn parents that told me I'd have a normal life, did not overprotect me and encouraged me to push my limits and do everything I can with the abilities I have. Right now, although I do have a funny walk and some balance and motor problems (which I'm actively working on), I climb mountains, hitchhike and do everything I want. It is however, one of the first things people notice about me and get various reactions ranging from neutrality, to worry and brilliant advice (have you tried walking with a stick? ourgh...), to fear and disgust, to empathy and admiration. What I prefer is that people just ignore it, because its something that doesn't define me and which I don't even think about when alone. This is why I'm glad, my dear reader, that we can get to know each other in a different way. Since my handicap doesn't define me, I'm not going to make this an inspiration porn blog, but instead want to show you life in all its color, both dark and bright, from different viewpoints and slowly give you insight into my being, so you have things to actively think about and apply in your own life.
After crossing the forest, rocky plains and other types of terrain, I arrive at the top and the sun starts to shine for a few hours. In the distance, I see two other mountain tops and some snow on them, while myself I'm surrounded by (yellow iperico and purple trifoglio) flowers as far as I can see. It feels like I've just entered paradise and I can start once again to take a break from society in order to cleanse and re-balance my soul, something which I haven't done for what feels like a very long time. The next days were sunny and full of music, fire, wonderful people, massages, beautiful connections of the soul, meditation and so much more. Coming down the mountain one week later, I felt calm and full of gratitude, ready to take the next steps in re-organizing some important aspects of my life.
Welcome, my dear reader, to my life. It's a continuous cycle of finding balance, losing it and finding it again. A dance between me and destiny in which I'm never really sure who, if anybody should lead. From here, I'll take you to all kinds of different topics and world, expressing my unique diversity as all of us have. Myself, I travel, I study the human soul, I influence the digital world by programming stuff, I love, and I reflect about everything from our connection with nature, to polyamory, to preventing artificial intelligence from dominating the world. Sounds interesting? Let me and others know what you think, what you feel. I'd like this to be the start of our conversation, a path of growth. Let's dance, and lose ourselves.