Welcome!

My name is Chiara, and I love to sit down with a coffee next to me and write about my travels. I'm on a mission to inspire others to give a chance to destinations and experiences that don't even make it to the so-called "off-the-beaten-path" destinations list.

When was the last time you picked up a travel magazine and read about a Middle Eastern destination without seeing the usual pictures of the pyramids, Petra, or Marrakesh? More generally, have you seen anything in mainstream travel media about Italy that isn't focused on the usual suspects—city breaks, the infamous Amalfi Coast, or the best things to do in XYZ? I am Italian, and it pains me to always see the same stuff regurgitated month after month.

We need fresh writing out there, new perspectives, new ways to avoid the stifling feeling of reading about the same things over and over again.

In my view, travel is far more than ticking off a bucket list, collecting a few good ‘reccs’, or planning your next holiday off a 20-second Instagram videos. As Emily Garthwaite writes in her outstanding piece about walking in Kurdistan, named “Long Walk to Freedom,” “It is time for other regions and countries to take their rightful place as desirable destinations.”

We all should strive to look beyond the “Instagrammable” and disposable travel experience and dare to challenge our preconceptions when it comes to exploring new places. It’s not easy, it may not seem pleasurable and you might think that you are ‘doing travel’ wrong, or even wasting your holiday allowance, but I can assure you it’s so, so worth it.

My main interests are: sustainability, women’s movements and initiatives, the Middle East (especially Palestine & Jordan).