Quit their jobs to experience Australia ‘On the Road’: The Adventure of Gianni Staggi and Eleonora Muratori

I drop everything. Get away from the hectic everyday life and go on a journey. Who among us has not dreamed of it at least once in his life? However, only a few of them have the courage and determination to do so. Among these, one Young couple from Lucca resident For seven years in AustraliaAnd the Gianni Staggi e Eleonora Muratori. Respectively, aged between 31 and 26, about a month and a half ago, the two boys boarded their truck to discover the Australian continent. Perth’s departure. Destination: adventure.

An adventure that began to ripen a year ago, when Gianni acquired Australian Nationality At the end of the five-year employment contract, as required by Work holiday visa. “For five years, I was tied to my employer, without ever stopping. For this – says the young man – my friend Eleonora and I obtained citizenship We quit our jobs and took three months off to discover Australia. A country we lived in for seven years without knowing it. We have never had the opportunity to travel except during the holidays, which we inevitably spent in Italy, in Lucca.”

The city in which they were both born and raised, is from San Concordio, which is from Nozano San Pietro. However, once he graduated from the Viareggio Sea, Gianni left for Californiawhere he trained as a pastry chef Carrara Pastry by Damiano and Massimiliano Carrara. The experiment lasted for a year, but three months after returning to Lucca, he had already boarded another plane: the direction, Australia. “Going there has always been my secret dream. There was a visa Work holiday visaWhich gave me the opportunity to travel across the continent and work at the same time, an opportunity that I couldn’t miss. Also from mine Friends of Viareggio lived in Byron Bay And when I heard them and saw their pictures I said to myself “I want to go too”. So I did. With my friend Eleonora“.

He met her in Lucca before leaving for the United States, where she went to visit him for ten days. Born in 1994, Eleonora Muratori had just graduated and was working at Gelatone di Palmiro when the two fell in love: “Once back from California, Eleonora worked as a waitress for a few months to put something aside and come with me. It’s been seven years since then, and she hasn’t We never leave Australia.”

They live in Perth, the western capital where their journey to discover the continent began fifty days ago. The initial project expected three months, but “we realize – explains Gianni – that it’s not enough to get around town. We’ll extend the time a bit, maybe stop to save money and work at the same time. In the moment. We traveled along the West Coast, moving north On board our truck“.

Four by Four have been revisited specifically for their itinerary, which is now over a month old their house. “e”Self-sufficiencyThere is everything inside. Refrigerator, battery, solar panels, bed, shower, kitchenette. If we stay away from civilization, as it happens, for three or four days, we have no problems. Even if now and then we rely on campsites to provide water: but 70% of the time we sleep in our truck.”

equipped for any eventualityIt is he who leads them to discover Australia: “We have been on كنا barrier reefswam with turtle and I saw him The whale shark. They are organized but very wild tours of the open sea. We have been in Shark Station – The boy continues – The sharks swim with their mouths open to clean their teeth from other fish. We dived between them, there was some kind of high level dive going down In apnea less than four meters. we have here Swim together with a tiger shark. Indescribable unique feelings.

However, surrounded by moments of difficulty: “Especially at the beginning, in the first week they were all. For example, while driving on a very unpaved road, we hit a pothole and the cross wheel pulled out. The bags fell off the roof of the car and we had to order all the new parts. It took four days to leave.”

“let’s walk Deserted stretch too long It is always necessary to carry a spare tank. The distances between one inhabited place and another are large, you can travel a long time without finding anything and you must always be careful to fill the tank to be able to get to the next service station. But here’s part of the adventure: We are located in a remote part of Australia“.

its name ‘red desertBecause the red is the sand that covers it. It extends on the western coast of the continent and is now crossed by Eleonora and Gianni in their direction. Next destination: Darwin. to total 19 hours driving which they will divide in about four days: “These are the areas he inhabits indigenous tribes endangered. That is why the government protects them. This is their land. We have never been in close contact with them, but they are simple and good people. Australians – he continues – love their ability to enjoy life. They know how to give the right value to work, which obviously remains a priority: but they care a lot about family and loved ones. They have a less active pace of life than Italians and Americans, and spend a lot of time with friends. Perhaps also thanks to the toughness of the government: Look for work or other, unlike Italy, Who is the It’s not an impossible task, correct. especially that pandemic Reduced foreign competition.

Since the beginning of the social and health emergency, Australia has closed itself to the world by closing its borders. This has enabled effective management of the epidemic. Summer passed with a scattered case every now and then, some infections recently occurred in Sydney and Melbourne. Here there will be a five-day shutdown, but it will only affect our trip slightly because we’ll have to wait a bit before going state to state. The day before yesterday, Darwin, where we’re headed, went into a 48-hour shutdown: But we will be there in three or four days. If they don’t find other cases, we will easily enter the city.”

We’ll be excited in a few days 2000 km of travel in the desert. A break to relax, pitch a tent and return to communication with civilization: “Sometimes it is good to see the world again. Indeed, it is not so easy to move from a house to a pickup truck, which changes all your habits. However – he notes – this It changed us deeply and taught us a lot. Above all, we learned that it doesn’t take much to live Unique experiences that nourish the soul and heart. It is believed that going on vacation needs money, and attach importance to material things, dinner parties, parties, and amenities. We travel in a modest car, spend a little of the day and simply eat. To prove it You don’t need money to be happy. Happiness – concludes Gianni – something different, Difficult to explain in words. But just look at our smile to understand“.

For those interested in following the trip: https://www.facebook.com/My-road-trip-australia-100432365598289 and https://www.instagram.com/myroadtripau/