12,000 km in 35 days

Meet Mauro, my new Italian friend.

Mauro is on a great adventure and I hope that when I am his age I will still have the courage and spunk to do what he is doing now. Mauro hails from an area near Torino, in Northern Italy. We met as he randomly showed up looking for a room at FCI. Lucky for him Unal scored him a great deal and lucky for me he decided to stay for a few days! Unfortunately, his stay was during the time the Discovery Crew was here. Our itneraction was brief but I know he is one of those people I could easily spend hours talking with about life, etc.

We spent a few hours one morning after breakfast getting to know each other as I was extremely fascinated with his story, but after that I only had moments to say good bye his last morning at FCI before I took off with the crew. Mauro has spent one month every year backpacking all over the world, and I am pretty sure he spent much longer in his younger free days. Family life and raising a kid has been his priorities, but now that his child is grown, he is looking for a new adventure in life.

Mauro is currently trying to cover 12,000 km in 35 days on a motorcycle. You can follow his adventures on his website. A pretty impressive feat..he is at his halfway mark…now just to get back to Italia! After he completes this journey, Mauro will look into the possibility of doing a motorcycle trip around the world. Hoping to complete it in a year to a year and a half…Mauro will be on the lookout for sponsors for this endevour and I am so excited for him.

I think Mauro has already unknowingly found a place in my heart since he reminds me of one of my dear friends back home, Bill. I suspect one day in these next few years Bill may find the courage to take off on a similar adventure. They are similarly minded men and I hope one day they can meet. I think they would find they have many similar things to talk about.

Before Mauro takes off on this world adventure I plan to visit him in Torino for some trekking and experience what northern Italy has to offer. Hurray for meeting amazing people!