Blog

Like any love affair, my love affair with Italy was not as simple as it seemed to be. There were complications too complex and sometimes too heavy, that I was forced to think why that place was not kind to me, despite the intensity with which I loved it. The most complex of all was the constant bureaucratic struggle which Italy subjects every foreigner to, especially for people who are not from European Union and with nationalities or those who did not have passports which allow less scrutiny and worldwide travel and stay privileges such as those of United States, the UK, Australia etc. you get the idea. It was too much to fight at two battle fronts; one for keeping the bureaucratic documents in order such as residence permit which in itself had a long list of requirements to keep up with and secondly to find and keep a job which was looped with the requirements of the residence permit. Therefore, it was always a chicken and egg situation, meaning that if I did not have a job, I could not get a residence permit since I was no longer a student and if I did not have a job, the immigration office (Questura) would not grant me a residence permit, which means saying “Ciao” to Italy and having to leave. Similarly, not having a residence permit will mean the employer would not be willing to offer a contract seeing the uncertain situation with the documentation. Sometimes I commend myself on keeping my nerves through that constant battle with all the odds to put bread on my table and to keep a roof over my head for which I had to call in favours from people who I would never have gone to, had I not been desperately fighting

With limited resources from home, I mostly relied on the Mensa Card (Food voucher card) from the university which we could swipe at university affiliated resturaunts, cafes and grocery shops and could get 7.5 Euros worth of meals, per day. Yes, it was and still is possible to have a decent meal in Italy in self- service resturaunts and small cafes, in this much money. That was the brilliance of Italian cuisine and the human values where humanity came first. The State universities in Italy, not only provide education but also support students cover their basic expenses and tuition fees and accommodation. They determine the level of need-based support scholarships based on the income of the parents/main earner and any other source that would be contributing to that household. Since the European Law gives right to education to everyone, each Italian State University has an office called "Dritto Allo Studio" a.k.a (DSU) which has different names in different regions but offers the same services. They basically have a set procedure of calculating income bands for students, based on documentation provided and have designated Fiscal offices (called CAAF in Italian) which calculate the income bracket of each student (their household) to determine how much will the student be paying as tuition fees and how much need-based support fund/ scholarship be given to a student who applied for DSU. That entails reimbursement of the tuition fees paid, the rent for university accommodation halls (if one doesn't decide to rent a place in the private market) as well as the Mensa Card valued from 5- 7.5 Euros each day. It was more than I could hope for, because all my life I heard, studying abroad needs 40-50 Grands of Dollars in tuition fees and in addition to that living expenses too. Therefore it

Italy is an exceptionally fascinating country in many ways. To me it never was and never will be just the land of Pizza and Pasta unlike the common misconception. Not everyone is named Mario with the moustache like that of Mario in the famous 80's game, Super Mario.  Neither it constitutes a dumb population with no sense of sophistication and manners as portrayed in many Hollywood movies and American TV series, nor is it just about sleazy men hitting on everything that moves. I cringed while watching a few episodes of “Superstore" on Netflix when Amy is dressed like Super Mario and both Amy and Jonah just did a cringe worthy imitation of Italian accent, which was neither funny nor entertaining. I never understood why movies and TV series always seem to be associating every super weird tradition/ ritual to European culture, which is usually not true. Anyways, that is not the topic here. Writing this blog for my readers and clients of Escapade Lite comes with a passion and inner love for the place where I spent the most beautiful years of my youth. I am not Italian and don't have much hope in becoming one (thanks to an intricately designed, complex immigration procedure for which no number of documents are ever enough) but I do have this profound feeling of being at home when I am in Italy. This owes to the decade long journey of navigating through good and bad times, full of experiences as a student, a traveller and a resident, having to go through bureaucratic procedures of maintaining residence and work documents as a foreigner. To me, Italy is and always will be land of Galileo, Marconi, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Alessandro Volta, Puccini, Dante, Boccaccio, Vivaldi, Pavarotti, Alessandro Bocelli and an endless list

Escapade Lite’s travel idea is neither that of a backpacking trip, nor a couch surfing adventure. For us, it is your trip of a lifetime very much in your budget and with the ease of the connections and money saving hacks we will tell you. Different from already set travel tours, with people stuffed up in buses on routes so long, where you don’t feel your bum anymore by the time you reach your destination, Escapade Lite gives you a sense of  ownership of your time and dream places to be at. When you are there, you have barely 20-30 mins to take some hurried pictures with a desire in your heart “What if I had more time” here? I wish I could see some more, BUT you are off to a new European city to not appreciate its beauty and experience in less than a few hours, by not giving it its due time. Don’t you think it is less than honest and fair to ask you to see Rome, Naples and Capri, all in one day? Yes people do that.I mean honestly, what would you really see? :D I can understand the need to see as much as possible in a short time, as holiday getaways are not frequent and need time and money both, to spare. But since it is not the case always, your time and money should be well spent and should not cause you to dwell on “What if’s” and “may be’s”. Similarly, I would not want anyone to pay a sh*t load of money and still having to decipher the complexities of local travel connections or having to spend another small fortune on taxis, to make it to the train and bus departures in time. Escapade Lite really busts the very idea of