Giulia

I grew up in a village at the foot of the Alps in Northern Italy with all the perks of it: my grandmother's terrace in bloom, bike rides through the fields, big daily meals. Yet, I soon started to see it as a prison. Through my studies and work I crossed the Alps to run away: first Paris, then the cities of Northern Europe, then London. Running shaped me, but it didn't stop me.

‍

The real pull came from the Mediterranean, this liquid continent around which great history and countless smaller stories revolve. Beirut, Cairo, Damascus: places where I always seem to glimpse a door waiting for me, a familiarity I can't quite explain, a sense of belonging to somewhere I've never actually lived. In 2023, that same feeling brought me to Athens, and I chose to stay, to try and absorb as much of it as possible.

‍

I've been writing about travel and culture for about ten years now (Lonely Planet Italia, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire), which has allowed me to experience the best of tourism as well as what goes on behind the scenes. That's why I now want to do my bit, to carry on travelling as a form of respect to the earth and to other people, maybe adding some poetry along the journey.