How to overcome fear while traveling on the road

Posted on October 26 by Jennifer Avventura

There are a few things in life, for which I am deathly afraid of. My blood begins to boil at just the thought of seeing or being involved in one of these things. Here’s a quick Top 10 list of my fears.

My Top 10 Fears

10. Snakes
9. Cows
8. Horses
7. Goats
6. Anything with antlers
5. Being a passenger in a fast car
4. Bungee jumping
3. Big, long bridges
2. Heights
1. Drowning

Numbers 1-3 really freak my freak and as a traveler there are times you can’t get from A to B without crossing a bridge. In 2005 there was one bridge which I crossed in Brazil. I was going from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio; it was a hot, three-hour bus ride from hell.

We had just turned a corner when I noticed a low bridge in the distance which covered a huge body of water. My first thought was that the bridge is too low, but maybe it’s better because I don’t like heights. I started to get anxious and my travel partner assured me that we would be okay. I kept envisioning the bus careening off the bridge into the water; I thought maybe the bus driver is having a bad day or life and today is his day to stop living and I thought about some crazed passenger seizing the bus and driving it into the huge body of water.

None of this happened – thankfully.

In 2007 I boarded a plane for Vancouver, British Columbia where I met up with an old roommate from Cayman Islands. It was just like old times – two friends reminiscing about the good times on Seven Mile Beach; laughing at silly tales of stealing Vespa’s and riding to Rum Point; drinking too many cocktails and riding our bicycles back home – those were the days.

My friend thought it would be a super idea to rent scooters for the day to scoot all over Vancouver’s lovely streets and parks, I eagerly agreed – even though I had never operated a scooter in my life, maybe it’s like riding a bike, I thought.

After a few spins around the Rent-A-Scooter parking lot, I was confident enough to hit the road. I followed my friends lead onto the busy roads, I felt a little vulnerable – the only protection was my helmet, I wished for a full body suit.

We scooted here and we scooted there. I yelled to my friend to slow down but for her, riding a scooter was like riding a bike – easy. I brought up the tail end when I noticed a King Kong sized bridge up ahead. I thought no waaaaaay! We are not – no, I am not going on that bridge.

I screamed out my friend’s name but she could not hear me – the traffic was increasing as were the transport trucks and the traffic lanes were doubling.

Oh dear me – she is crossing the bridge. Do I chicken out? What do I do? Mommy??? Is it legal to drive a scooter across this bridge? What if my scooter decides to do the funky dance over the railing and into the water? These were the thoughts crossing my mind.

Thankfully – none of the above happened.

Lion’s Gate Bridge – Vancouver, British Columbia

Source: Wikipedia

And me, in the Rent-A-Scooter parking lot, before the bridge.

In the span of three seconds, as I entered that bridge the top three things I’m deathly afraid of soon became a reality.

How do you overcome fear while on the road?

My advice is – Just do it! You won’t regret it.

I didn’t chicken out, I didn’t allow fear to stop me from experiencing the single most frighteningly fantastic event of my life. I did it!

How have you overcome fear while on the road?

Source: Lions Gate Bridge via Wikipedia

Blog of the Year 2012 Award | My Sardinian Life

Posted on October 25 by Jennifer Avventura

I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award from the wonderful folks at the Algarve Blog. The year is not even over and My Sardinian Life woke up to this beautiful award this morning! Thank you!

The rules are simple:

Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog Of the Year 2012‘ Award.
Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.
Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012 Award @ the Thought Palette and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.
You can now also join our Facebook page – click the link here ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook page and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.
As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars.

With one very shiny star!
Because unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different!
You begin with the ‘1 star’ award – and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star!
There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

And now on with the nominations:

Thirdeyemom – is a wonderful blog about travel, culture and social good. In my opinion, I think Nicole deserves the Woman of the Century Award for all her hard work with children around the world.
The Urge to Wander – is a lovely blog about travel – from Turkey to Egypt and from Peru to Spain and many other destinations along the way. This blog will give you the urge to wander.
Comedy Travel Writing – is a hilarious blog written by a funny traveling man. This blog is new-ish to me and I’ve found myself a little too eager for his next post. I haven’t seen much comedic travel writing around the blogosphere and this one takes the cake.
Cosy Travels of the Viking and his Kitten – is an awesome blog written by a Danish organ player and his Belgian language teacher – Kitten. The photographs are breathtaking as are the travel stories. Plus, I think the blog title kicks butt!
A Drifter off to see the World – is a beautifully colourful blog written by a courageous young woman who moved to Australia to continue her education. You go girl!

To all the fabulous blogs listed above – thank you for enriching my world through yours. It’s been a wonderful year full of encouragement and support. I eagerly look forward to exploring yet another year of your travels and tales. Thank you.

A special shout out goes to Jen from Passport to Bliss who kindly nominated My Sardinian Life for The Versatile Blogger Award. This mark’s the sixth time that this blog has received this award. Thank you, Jen.

I am grateful to you all.

To learn more about the Blog of the Year 2012 Award – click here.

A magical mushroom tour at 365m above sea level

Posted on October 24 by Jennifer Avventura

Wild mushrooms are a hot commodity in the hills of Italy and each year hundreds of Italians will die from mushroom poisoning. On October 20th, 2012 a family of four from Pisa, all died from the mushrooms that they had collected earlier that day.

DEATH CAP

The mushrooms that killed this innocent family are appropriately named the Death Cap; there is currently no cure for those that ingest this mighty mushroom.

This past Sunday we headed into the Sardinian mountains to hunt mushrooms, wild rabbit and sparrow. I’m just kidding about the latter two. What we did find was a lot wild mushrooms blooming between, beneath and on top of cow dung. It was a splendid afternoon I tell you – the winds were cool and the afternoon sun was warm and bright.

Wild mushrooms dotted the rugged mountain tops and I made double sure that there were no cows – in any radius.

My husband has been mushroom hunting for years; as a child he would spend his mornings collecting fresh mushrooms to later sell for a few lira down at the local supermarket. Two years ago – we made such a huge haul of mushrooms that I pickled them into 15 different jars!

We were a little late at getting out mushroom hunting this year and plenty of the mushrooms were already being attacked by small worms in the stalk. We left a ton of rotten mushrooms mountain top and made our way back home with about 5kg of Sardinian mushrooms.

I’d just turned on the T.V when the 5 o’clock news came on and we heard the story of this family in Pisa. My husband assured me that the mushrooms we picked are not poisonous. However, I did protest and he was grossed out by all the worms that we decided to ditch our loot of mushrooms.

(Click on any photo to view original size.)

Pick with care; know your shrooms!

Are you a mushroom hunter?

A Gathering of Mushrooms – via My Sardinian Life
Two die after eating death cap mushrooms – via ABC, Australia
Poisonous mushrooms – via Wanted in Rome
Mushroom hunt claims 18 lives – via The Independent

Travel theme: Couples

Posted on October 21 by Jennifer Avventura

Both photography themes this week have thrown me for a loop. I generally never take photo’s of people or other couples and I’m certainly not that advanced in my photography for silhouette‘s. The following is what I’ve come up with for Ailsa’s travel theme: couples. There’s even a little surprise among the photos. Can you find it?

A couple of men selling hats.

A couple of horse riders in Olbia

Floppy with this wife Shatzy.

Inflatable couples at carnevale

Mamma & Baby Couple

Oh – look at this couple. I wonder who it is?

A traditional Sardinian wedding couple.

Friendly couples catching up on the daily gossip

A modern day Sardinian wedding

Do you photograph people/strangers? Do you ask first if you can take their photo or do you snap and run?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

Posted on October 20 by Jennifer Avventura

A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black, its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is basically featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. The silhouette differs from an outline which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic media.¹

Silhouette photos haunt me; this week’s photo challenge haunts me. I’m not super artistic when it comes to these types of shots and actually prefer to never take them. It wouldn’t be called a challenge if it weren’t, well, challenging.

Silhouette of Isola Rossa, Sardinia

Sardinian Cow Silhouette

Silhouette Church in Sardinia

My silhouette in Vancouver, Canada

Cantebury Castle Silhouette

Canadian Trees Silhouette

Silhouetted surfer at Isola Rossa, Sardinia

Half silhouette of Isola Rossa, Sardinia

Do your silhouette photo’s have hints of colour like mine?

This is my response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

Source: Wikipedia¹

Top 10 Reasons I’ll Miss the Italian Job

Posted on October 16 by Jennifer Avventura

It would be a complete injustice if I wrote only about the horrors I faced this year with my Italian job(s). There were a few good points to waiting tables in Italy and I’ve listed them for you in a fun Top 10 List.

Top 10 Reasons I’ll Miss the Italian Job
by

10. The fabulous multi-cultural clients.

9. The extra €20 slipped into my pocket, every other night.

8. Being offered to sit and drink with clients during my shift (was offered many, many times but never took anyone up on the offer).

7. Nightly raids of the (permitted) gelato station – pistachio here I come!

6. Well-behaved gorgeous children from all walks of life.

5. The Russians. They were hilarious, generous and polite.

4. The blazing orange sun-set.

3. My Italian, Sardinian, Czech, Hungarian and German colleagues. They were all a fabulous bunch of people.

2. Packing take-away lunch and dinner for my husband from the staff dining-hall. The food was good – plus I had to pay for it!

1. Speaking English to Italian clients; speaking Italian to English clients and speaking a mix of both to the Russians. They laughed, I laughed, and we all laughed together. Priceless moments.

What are some of the pros and cons of your expat work?

Top 13 Reasons I Quit the Italian Job
The Raw Reality of Expat Life in Small Town Sardinia

Travel Theme: On Display | She Sells Sardinian Seashells

Posted on October 15 by Jennifer Avventura

I’ve wanted to put on display my lovely collection of Sardinian seashells which I found by the Sardinian seashore for sometime now. This week Ailsa – from Where’s my backpack gave me the perfect theme to display my collection. Thanks Ailsa!

She sells sea shells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells.

Were you able to get through that tongue-twister without twisting it up?

Hit the Ground Running | Hunting Season in Sardinia

Posted on October 14 by Jennifer Avventura

It was a normal Sunday morning like every other Sunday morning. The only real difference is that it’s now October. You’re probably wondering why just one month would make a huge difference – on a Sunday. It makes a difference if you’re a runner and enjoy Sunday morning runs that are traffic free.

It was beautiful this morning when I decided to tie on my runners and head out in the beautiful Autumn morning. At around the 2k mark a slight stitch came into my side and I ignored it – like I usually do, it goes away. I was just about at my half-way mark – 3k away from home when I heard the familiar jingle-jangle in the bushes.

Continue reading →

Weekly Photo Challenge : Big

Posted on October 13 by Jennifer Avventura

“And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!”

-Dr. Seuss

Very big beers in Greece

Big sweets in Santorini, Greece

Big Nuraghe in Sardinia

My big feet in Vienna, Austria

The big and beautiful Acropolis in Greece

My first (ever) BIG Italian pizza in Milan

Big is the Arena in Verona, Italy

Big caves in Athens, Greece

Giants’ Tomb of Li Lolghi – Sardinia

Big wooden shoes in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This is my response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Big

Top 13 Reasons I Quit the Italian Job

Posted on October 12 by Jennifer Avventura

I had a job this summer. For 30 days, I was an English-speaking waitress who worked in a buffet restaurant on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Here are the reasons I quit my job.

Top 13 Reasons I Quit the Italian Job
by

13. Being belittled by an angry co-worker in front of 10 other co-workers because I forgot a cappuccino, on my second shift.

12. Being docked €5.00 a day to eat prepared meals in the staff dining-lounge, even if you choose not to eat with your angry co-worker(s).

11. The corns and calluses were growing on my feet faster than a speeding jet.

10. Working for 5 hours then sleeping for 5 hours – rinse and repeat twice a day, is no easy lifestyle.

9. Losing 12 pounds off my bones in 21 days is a sickly sight. And I ate like a horse – which is pretty usual for me.

8. Finding out that my co-workers’ rent is paid for the 5-6 six months of employment was utterly shocking! No one offered to pay my mortgage – why?

7. Seeing co-workers bringing in their laundry to be laundered by the hotel – for free. (My laundry basket runneth over.)

6. Button down shirts with a fancy necktie and long black pants should be banned, anywhere where the temperature rests on boiling.

5. Working 4.5 hours on a scheduled day off – is not a day off.

4. No over-time pay – say what?!

3. Management asking for English translations on all menus – without pay!

2. Being told to speak only in English when conversing with co-workers. Wait a minute – I thought I was in Italy, the only Italian speaking country in the world. Hey Dorothy – can I borrow your sparkly red shoes?

1. Working 4.5 hours in the morning + 4.5 hours in the evening = does not equal the 6.4 hours which is clearly stated in my contract.

The Raw Reality of Expat Life in Small Town Sardinia
My Expat Job Struggles | Sardinia, Italy