September 28, 2021
Interview with Dany from Travelling Dany
How Dany's travels and blog changed due to the pandemic
- What was hardest logistically and emotionally?
- Did you get caught in lockdown?
- Did you continue posting?
- Tell us about your most memorable experience.
- Did you travel around your own country?
- Did you take up any new hobbies?
- What do you miss the most?
- Do you have any new adventures planned?
- How'd you deal with the uncertainty?
- Is there anything else you'd like to share?
When it came to traveling during the pandemic, what was the hardest thing logistically? What was the hardest emotionally?
Finding a place or a rented home where we would be alone. We avoided hotels. Also we were very worried about getting sick so we wore masks and were using a sanitizing gel on our hands and iPhones several times per day.
Did you get caught in a lockdown anywhere? If so, how did it go? What helped you get through it?
Not me, but my sister who was visiting our family in Naples from Milan (Italy). She stayed for a few days. In the end she had to sign a lot of documents to be allowed to get back home to work. She's a lawyer. Trains and flights were mostly stopped in Italy when we got into a lockdown so her husband had to drive 7 hours from Milan to pick her up and they drove back home. They say that our highway (Autostrada) was completely empty and it was a horrible feeling. Autostrada is never, ever empty.
Did you continue blogging and posting on social media during the pandemic? How did the situation affect your blog?
I have mostly stopped Instagram but I've always been writing my newsletter, posting on the blog and on Youtube. I just tried to be more conscious and to offer advice, reminding people to be careful. Sadly not everyone took that well. Some people unsubscribed because they said they didn't want to talk about the pandemic at all.
If you kept traveling during the pandemic, tell us about your most memorable experience. Was there a new type of travel that you fell in love with? Were there any experiences that you had that you would not have otherwise?
We have never stopped travelling, ever since the lockdown was lifted in Italy. In stead than using a plane we got ourselves a new Jeep Compass and we're exploring Italy with our car. Since it's super comfy and has a lot of space, we might start roadtripping Europe with our own car in stead than flying there. It's also good for the environment!
With many borders closed, a lot of people traveled around their own countries. Is this something that you also did?
Yes we've stayed in Italy. We're re-visiting a lot of regions, and this time we're taking our sweet time. There are a lot of hidden gems we didn't know about, the locals are super chatty and over tourism is not even a thing. There's so much to see in Italy and our followers seem to love it!
Did you take up any new hobbies while you were unable to travel?
In 2020 I took up knitting: we just couldn't leave home at all. Early 2021 we started horticulture, so we're now growing our own food and I'm making bread, baking cakes and pizza every other day. We didn't have time to do all this when we were constantly flying around.
What's the thing about traveling that hasn't come back yet that you miss the most?
Me and my husband would love to fly to Canada or to the USA, but honestly flights now are expensive. There are still a lot of limitations and we're honestly scared of boarding an airplane because there's a higher risk of getting infected. So for now we can't go anywhere which requires a flight and we do miss it. Even London (2 hours flight from Naples) seems to be so far away.
Do you have any grand adventures planned next?
We're leaving again this weekend for a week in Abruzzo (Italy) as my parents have moved in a tiny village up in the mountains, so we're visiting them. In September we'll explore the Parco Naturale del Conero (Italy), driving from the Conero Coast (known as the "Italian Caribbeans") to the nearby mountains where we'll go hiking and horseback riding.
Being a traveler, you often deal with uncertain situations and new experiences. Do you think this prepared you to handle the pandemic better than most?
Absolutely yes. We're more "flexible" than others. We're used to sudden plan changes, we travel light and we're always very careful about sanitizing everything when we're on the road. So I think we're more open-minded. Yet there's a downside. We suffered a lot at not being to travel as Italy was in a lockdown for quite a few months in 2020. We couldn't even see our parents or siblings. It took a bit to reinvent ourselves to feel more comfortable in our own home. Yet we still miss traveling abroad!
Do you have anything else you would like to tell readers or any optimistic thoughts for the future of travel?
We really hope we can get back to regular travel soon. And hopefully prices will be lower. In Italy everything is more expensive at the moment. Which is not good. According to what they tell us here, the worst should be over. So hopefully 2022/2023 is when we can leave all this behind us. The world got suddenly too small once again, as it was over 15 years ago!
