There and Back Again…

It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to. — Bilbo Baggins

No truer words have ever been written. Decades ago, I was a teenager when I told my mother the world was my home. It was a sincere and spontaneous assessment of my relationship with Earth and my desire to explore it. It took me a few more years, already in Law School, before I boarded the bus that would bring me to where I am now.

I remember that moment vividly. Memories are stronger when attached to emotions. I was excited, and scared. I had never crossed the border into another country. And there I was, ready to embark, with Bolivia and its famous Death Train as my destination. Machu Picchu and the Atacama Desert – which I had wanted to walk on since I was 10 years old – were part of that journey too, but this story is for another time.

That first trip opened the floodgates that would bring me to Florence, Italy, for the first time in 2007. I applied for Italian citizenship due to my direct descent to a great-grandfather who immigrated to Brazil in the early XX Century. I chose Italy and Italy chose me… Here I fell in love with my wife, Christine, and enjoyed a great life as a hiking tour guide before I moved to the US for a study opportunity. It took me a good five years before coming back, in 2015, with renewed enthusiasm and eagerness to discover more and more about this beautiful country.

But enough about me. Actually, I’ve never been good at sharing the wonder that I’ve encountered in this world. I want to change that. One thing I’ve learned in my short life is that happiness is sharing. In times when negativity and hopeleness seem to permeate the mainstream waves, I want to share with you the beauty that exists everywhere. Please join me as I start my adventure – I hope you enjoy the ride.