Laden with a 75-litre rucksack and a handful of Italian phrases, Campania was the first destination I ever travelled to on my own. I was 19 and it was a working holiday with environmental organisation Legambiente – two weeks in a tiny village south of Salerno, with other volunteers from around the world. It remains one of my favourite ever travel experiences, but I still remember the terror of making my way to this remote spot on my own (before the age of the smartphone, Google Maps and translation apps). I got there in one piece via plane, train and bus (to this day the phrase Dove devo scendere per la stazione? is indelibly etched into my brain, such was my determination to communicate with the bus driver and avoid ending up lost in downtown Naples). The journey wasn’t without challenges – not realising I needed to validate my train ticket for one, which earned me a telling off from the conductor on board – but the whole fortnight (including that scary journey) was utterly exhilarating, made me several friends for life, and gave me a taste for the independence afforded by solo travel, which remains with me today.
SELF-ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE
I’m not
