I nourish myself with travel and food. Indeed, traveling is where you learn how to manage on your own, to see the beauty of this world, be it landscape or people, their culture, and personality. I’ve always loved to see what makes us different. I have been passionate about culture for a long time, discovering them through movies, books, food, habits, songs, clothes, and especially people. My name is Laura, I am an eighteen-year-old French girl, and my life changed a few weeks ago.

After spending 8 months volunteering as a French teacher for refugees and working as a fruit and vegetable seller, I decided to spend a year abroad with an environmental association on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Located in the province of Salerno, in the mountains, Acarbio has an aim: bringing people close to nature and their traditions again. The volunteers have different missions: local farming support (food processing: marmalade, pickled vegetables, tomato sauce, and more, community gardening, harvesting, community cooking), practical activities (woodwork construction, mountain path cleaning, art).

After 24 hours of traveling, I finally met everyone. I now live in a shared apartment with 5 people, all of them coming from different countries. And I discovered the pleasure of living in the mountains. It almost seems unrealistic waking up early in the morning with this view, as if we don’t deserve it. My life is now way slower than it used to be, and I can enjoy the smallest things (like eating a fruit that has taste). I love it! Let’s say that discovering new foods is also becoming one of my number one objectives. I had the chance to visit Italy a lot before, and I still learn so much every time I come.

For the birthday of the president of the association, we had a Pizza night (I forgot to say that the office is literally located in what used to be a restaurant). And I tried lemon pizzas, never heard of it before, but as I am writing, I can still taste the amazing flavor in my mouth. Let me just give you the ingredients and let your imagination do the rest: smoked mozzarella from the village, parmesan with lemon juice in it, olive oil, and walnuts: heaven in a bite.

I’ve visited a few cities during the weekends, like Maiori and Vietri Sul Mare (a little ceramist village that took a lot of my money in handmade coffee cups and egg cups) with a friend of mine, and we just let ourselves get lost in the streets, bought fresh fruits with mozzarella, and zucchini sandwiches as we walked.

I must say that I look forward to discovering much more and telling you all about it…

Written by Laura Clement