I was born and raised in Italy by Italians. I guess I am legally Italian - but my head is always elsewhere.

I prefer to speak English rather than my own language. I do like to sleep but I also like to get things done which means I do not sleep after lunch like Italians do. I like pasta but my favorite dish is not Spaghetti Alla Bolognese. I love going to the beach but I would never live in a city like the one I go to every summer. I normally have a cappuccino and a croissant for breakfast but if I could choose something else, I'd probably go for pancakes. All I'm saying is that I don't want to be a living stereotype of what people think Italians are. I may or may not be loud, late or using my hands a lot - just like any other human being.

I am not trying to say that I dislike my home country, I love Italy, it is a beautiful place. I just find it "reducing" sometimes to say that I am Italian. I am not only that, in fact, I am Cris. I watch movies in their original language, I love Mexican food and I could not care less about soccer. I like to believe that I am a bit of everything. Even though I love Italy I do not like to speak about it as if it was the greatest country in the whole world, I believe there is something we can learn in every country. In fact, one of the best moments I've experienced when I was abroad was being asked: "Which state are you from?" by a lady who thought that I was American. I felt happy, not necessarily because I want people to think that I am American or I want to be, but because I was able to surprise this lady by telling her that I am actually Italian.

People tend to defend their own countries and claim that theirs is the best in the world but as far as I am concerned I would much rather travel all around before comparing places. I don't like when people talk about things they don't know.

I will probably settle down eventually, I will not be a nomad forever, but at the moment I like to travel around, even if that means that I have to start from zero every time I leave a place to go to the next. This is how I think life has to be lived. Time is precious and we do not know what tomorrow holds. We can not postpone things that we can do today. How do my favourite travel bloggers, Damon and Jo, say? Shut up and go!

- Cris

Happy new year everybody! One of my resolutions is to just make every day interesting, and I guess I managed to do that very well this first week of 2019. But let's start from the top.

I spent New Year's Eve at my family's place in Milan. At some point in the evening, a Korean girl came in and asked for some food to take away along with some wine. She was traveling solo and said that she was going to her hotel so my family invited her to stay. She experienced Italian music and tried a lot of food. I can say that it was a really nice beginning for 2019, given the fact that I love meeting people from different countries and that we actually saved her from sleeping through the countdown. But that's not all.

I spent a couple of days with an old friend of mine from exchange, which has been truly great. I can't deny that it was interesting to see each other after almost four years. A lot of things changed, we grew, but we did have fun. Then, on the 4th of January, I went to Porto, (stay tuned for a post about Portugal). It is a beautiful city and the weather was really amazing and warm for being winter. The sky was cloudless and I was visiting a new city.


What could possibly go wrong? Well, let me tell ya. I got an infection in my throat which led to high fever, but my foot was also hurting quite a bit, in fact, I couldn't walk decently. I went to a pharmacy to see what my chances were and I was told to call the national health hotline to receive assistance, which I did. They suggested going to the emergency room, and later that evening, I was given a yellow-band. I was kind of worried because I never really went to a hospital to get cured before, I normally just see my doctor. I approximately waited an hour and a half when I was told that I could have had to wait for seven more, so I just left. I had to catch a bus the next morning headed to a smaller place in Portugal called Covilha, where I knew I could have been treated quicker. As soon as I arrived there I went to the Hospital. I had over 38° of fever so I "earned" myself a new yellow-band, and, after a couple of hours, I was called in by the doctor. The nurse injected some paracetamol in my veins (I never experienced it before and shit, it hurt!). I did an x-ray to check my foot and then I was given prescriptions for my medicines. Last but not least, I spent over 60 euros just on medicines, excluding all the uber rides... 

I can say that this was definitely one of the most expensive trips this year but I am so glad I went to the hospital and got checked because I can finally swallow again and walk decently. I was also super grateful that I wasn't traveling alone because if I were, the language would have been a problem. Some doctors did speak English but some others did not. Anyway, the staff from both the hostel in Porto and the hospital in Covilha were extremely nice and to me so I felt very well taken care of.

Of all the stories I have told in the past, this is new. I am grateful for everything that I am experiencing, in fact, I am trying to see the positive side of things. On my next travels, I will be more careful and research more about the health care in the country I am about to visit. I guess I never really worried too much about health insurance in Europe because I'm European, but I think that from now on I will definitely hold a thought for that.

And you? Have you ever felt so sick abroad to the point where you had to go to the hospital? How did you overcome the problem? Were you on your own?

- Cris