English – Page 2 – Barefoot in the Pampas

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Yes, yes I know, it’s been a year since my last update… Perseverance is not my strong suit. But here I am, and I’m going to update you on what I’ve been up to since February 2016… in freestyle!

Went to Koh Phangan and found it beautiful but, for me, empty and lonely (it was a hard act to follow Lanta and KoHub!)

Had one of the most painful massages of my life

Went to Burma to see an old friend, only for said friend be sent away by work just before I got there. One day after arriving I got very sick (turned out later I had bronchitis and pharyngitis). I struggled through a few days there, among the rain and rats of Yangon. Decided I was miserable and gave in to the call of some dear friends who were over in Bali, so I booked a flight to Bali and I went the next day. Burma, I’ll be back, I promise!

Bali was beautiful. I had no expectations and no mental image of what this island was going to be like, so I was pleasantly surprised. I stayed mostly in Ubud (where we got our own house with pool – the dream villa was realised after all!) and hung out with some dear friends.

Went to Chiang Mai for a month, to try and experience this self-styled “Digital Nomad hub” for myself. Thank god I already had some friends there, as I did not make any new ones. I wasn’t really ready for city life but I still enjoyed this beautiful city with its many attractions, including the amazing street food! Got down and did some serious writing.

After having reached “peak Asia” and having gotten blind drunk twice in one month (something I’ve done only a couple of times in my entire life, and one of these in CM was due to the Brexit result), it was time to return to Mother Europe.

Went to Italy to a great wedding (I probably ate double my body weight during the reception) and danced the night away with old school friends. Fab! Visited the lovely Matera (amazing place!) then spent a couple of weeks in Tuscany with my little monsters (my niece and nephews).

Finally, it was time to get back to my other happy island, the gorgeous Carloforte in Sardinia. I had one week with mum and auntie (they lookedafter me well!) then a week to myself, hermit-like, to write and chill, and celebrate my birthday alone.

I returned to Rome where an amazing friend threw me a surprise (ish) birthday party on her rooftop terrace, complete with live band, cocktails and huge cake. It was amazing!

I travelled for short trips to London, Stockholm, Scotland and Paris, to see some people very dear to my heart and spend quality time with them. But the weather was getting cold so it was time to head somewhere warmer again.

I finally made it to Kenya to visit some old friends. It was my first proper Africa trip. And what a trip! I still don’t know what to make of it, but I did enjoy myself immensely: Nairobi, Naivasha, Diani beach and then a safari in the Masai Mara (where I acquired a Maasai chief suitor :P). And I was with my American friends when we found out Trump had won, so we were able to commiserate with each other. Kenya, I will be back.

I constantly marvel at the fact that wherever I go now I happen to be in the same place as others I’ve already met during my travels. I love my digital nomad community!

Then it was time for a quick London stop before spending a month in the Alps for Christmas with the little monsters. This was fabulous. We got to spend most days playing, reading, laughing, learning. It warms my heart.

I then got some amazing and unexpected news: I’m gonna be an auntie for the fourth time! This time thanks to my sister 🙂

Finally, after having endured one month of cold, my body rebelled. So I flew all the way to… Australia! This was my first time Down Under and I have to say, my various hosts outdid themselves (I think they realise how far Australia is from everywhere else apart from NZ, and reward you accordingly). I stayed in Sydney and Melbourne, and it was an amazing trip! I loved it, loved the people, the food, the coffee, the beach, the friends I made… I even got to do a reverse puzzle room (breaking into a bank is one of my new side activities!). The result: I will definitely be back.

Went for 10 days to Penang, in Malaysia, which I had visited during my very first Asia trip almost 10 years ago and which has retained all its charm. It is becoming a bit of a DN hotspot, and for good reason. The food is great, costs are low and the infrastructure is fabulous. Costs for me are a definite issue at the moment, due to the fact that, thanks to Brexit, everything this year is 25% more expensive for me compared to last year.

Thai visa in hand, I finally made it back to my original happy island ™: Lanta. On arrival, I dumped my bags, put on my bikini and met a friend at the beach for a swim at sunset: just what I had been hankering after for months.

And this is where I still am now, in my happy place, being healthy, productive and creative, surrounded by lovely people. It was great to be remembered by many island residents and be greeted warmly. I feel at home here.

More updates soon, I promise!

Oh, and I’ve been featured in two different online articles:
https://digitalnomadstories.com/2017/02/05/interview-with-sara-baroni/

And

Chris the Freelancer

Leggi in italiano qui

I don’t know about you, but growing up I had an awful, awful relationship with my mother. I don’t know why that was; it could have been because she had had such a shitty, abusive mother that she had placed way too many expectations on our own relationship; it could have been because I was (and am) a strong-headed little shit-kicker; it could have been because, on a completely subconscious level, I blamed her for her and my dad’s breakup and his consequent absence from home (not that I can remember this – it happened when I was under 3…) and so I wanted to punish her… I really, truly don’t know. And the truth is probably that it’s a mix of all of the above and more.

In any case, in my teens our relationship deteriorated to the point where all our interactions were screaming matches and ultimatums (ultimata??). Add to this that I did not get on with my step dad, and you can see why, approaching the end of my high school years, I was just itching to get out of home. And that’s exactly what I did, in the clearest, most unequivocal way: I moved over a thousand miles away (and that was before we had low-cost airlines, so it was REALLY far).

A completely unexpected, and very welcome, result of my moving out and away was that, almost overnight, my relationship with my mother changed beyond recognition. Finally we could relate to each other as adults and not as mother/child, disciplinarian/disciplinee. That happened almost 20 years ago (yikes!) and in the past few years, that relationship has continued to improve, beyond even my wildest expectations. As both my brother and sister have partners (and my brother has children as well) and I have been single for a few years, I am the child who visits home most often, spends time with mamma or even, as it happened recently, invites her on trips.

Two years ago, under major emotional blackmail from me, she came to the UK for a holiday and we visited Stonehenge (something she had always wanted to do but never set out to) and Oxford. It was a lovely few days. So when I decided to go travelling full time, and I mentioned Thailand, mum said “Maybe I’ll come visit you there”. I was surprised that the initiative came from her but was also very glad.

She asked around and found a good friend who was interested in travelling with her, and so we organised this trip of a lifetime. Before coming to Thailand, my mum had never been outside Europe (ops, sorry, she had been to Tunisia), nor on a very long flight, and… to top it all off, she speaks very basic English. So, as befits my OCD Virgoan nature, I planned their trip with military precision: I detailed exactly what they would be encountering on the plane (I explained about the meals, and the wine, very important point, and even told them on which channels they could find movies in Italian), on their stopover in Dubai (shuttle to change terminals, where the smoking lounge was – another key element for my chain-smoking mother), and their arrival in Bangkok (I even took a picture of the arrival card and explained how to fill it out).

So… they made it! We spent a few days in Bangkok and then travelled down to Lanta, where I have been staying. I found them a nice bungalow near the sea and then we went on several day-trips and excursions. We ended up doing things that, I have to be honest, I never thought my mum would do – things she had said she’d NEVER do: ride on the back of my scooter, go on snorkeling trips, eat spicy food. I have to say, it went even better than I expected. They had a great time, got tanned and rested in the middle of European winter, and we spent some quality time together.

I was also really pleased that my mum was with me when she received some very, very sad news. So I was able to comfort her and to try and distract her for a bit.

The whole thing was such a success that we already started talking about next year, and Bali!

Category: English

Overdue update

Travels with mother