Epic Adventure: Agnese & Michele of Slowly Anywhere
March 26, 2019Who doesn't want to travel, right? I e-met Agnese and Michele through the wonderful world of social media and instantly felt a connection. They were living this incredible life, travelling full-time, and I wanted to know more. It's such an interesting story that I wanted to share it with you, dear Tree Tribe.
Tell us a bit about who you guys are. Who were you before the traveling and what incited the change of lifestyle? How you would define yourselves now?
We are Agnese and Michele. Currently, two full-time backpack travelers and our blog Slowly Anywhere is focused on providing precious advice for planning your next trip.
Before we started this incredible adventure we worked as designers in Italy. We had a stable and well-payed job and lived in a beautiful apartment in the center of Milan. On the surface, nothing was wrong with our lives.
But, after a while, we realized that this life was not for us.
We want to explore the world because one day when we will be older, we would rather have the memories of beautiful places visited, nice people met and amazing experiences lived than having spent it behind a desk, staring at a screen.
Frankly speaking, this was such a hard decision . Quit our job, leave our beautiful house, leave behind our daily routine and say goodbye to our family and friends was a choice that we couldn't take lightly. However, here we are, after more than one year far from home we still have the enthusiasm to keep traveling and get to know new cultures.
In all this amount of time, we only have visited a few countries because we love to travel slowly. During this period we may have missed the most beautiful touristic attractions, the fanciest downtown restaurants, and the coolest clubs... but we decided to live in people’s houses, to experience their culture, to eat their traditional food and be part of their lives for a little while.
We never liked being tourists. Tourists are different. Local people always try to satisfy every tourist’s need or taste. Instead, we slept in uncomfortable beds, we had the same meal for days and we even had (multiple) food intoxications, but most importantly we have always been happy.
We travel slowly, but we Slowly go Anywhere.
What do you love most about traveling as a profession?
What we like the most about this way of living is that we don't know anymore what getting bored means. Thanks to the continuous stimuli we receive, we are in a permanent overwhelmed state.
This journey has allowed us to meet beautiful people with similar lives, with which we can share experiences and concerns. Sometimes we even shared the same path for a while. This reinforces the idea that this way of living is possible, and that we have made the best choice ever.
What are some struggles you have had to overcome and how did you do it?
We are not going to lie, travel as a couple is a big challenge. Your relationship can be in danger, but we are lucky enough to say that we definitely passed the test! Adventures like this one help to find a balance and make your relationship even stronger.
Our way of traveling also leads to difficulties related to continuous changes. Every two-three weeks we move to a new town, house or even a country. Every time we have to get used to a new culture, new lifestyle, every time we have to reinvent ourselves. We consider this aspect of traveling challenging but enriching. We are glad we can face it as a couple.
What are some underrated places you've visited that our readers should definitely look into?
Underrated places are so beautiful because they are still underrated. More than a specific place to visit we would like to promote our travel philosophy. Underrated places can be found by talking with locals, by spending time in a community by traveling off the beaten path.
Tourism can make the world a better place if only tourists were more conscious.
How would you describe your relationship with nature and protecting the environment?
We have always been very sensitive to this thematic and we have always tried as much as possible to respect the environment. While traveling in these that are considered developing countries, we sadly realized that we took so many things for granted.
We saw our neighbor burning down her old mattress in the courtyard. We navigate in a river full of plastic waste . We watched people using motor exhausted oil as a wood waterproofing. These are just a few examples of what we sadly experienced during our journey. As travelers, we have the responsibility to share knowledge and raise awareness of protecting the environment.
What are your goals? Are you on a mission to achieve something specific?
As soon as we left Italy we didn’t really have a specific goal. We mainly wanted to leave our routine behind and feel free. While traveling we suddenly realized that we can use this experience to learn useful things that we can apply once back in Italy. Now we know how to manage a cooking school, how to build to concrete, how to grow our own food and even how to run a hostel. We are looking forward to apply these bits of knowledge on our future project.
What advice would you give someone reading this, wanting to go on a similar journey but afraid to make the leap?
The only thing we would like to say is that the world is a beautiful place . Traveling is the best thing people can do for themselves. Travel community is strong and we support each other. We strongly suggest to read blogs , write to people and get ready to explore. This life is possible. Stop thinking, start acting.