My obsession with secret places and how it changed my life and other thousand
My daily routine it’s pretty simple. I’m a professional designer, and I run my own company in a small village in the middle of nowhere, north of Italy, near Bologna.
As for most of the people, business duty pretty much defines and shapes my everyday routine.
Every time I take my car to reach a client or pass my day in the office what’s around me becomes more flat and grey.
It’s natural to get used to the places we live and see everyday, and there is nothing wrong with that.
But I started to feel like I was missing something because of that.
When two years ago I began climbing by having to reach gyms and rocks I needed to move two times a week to different cities around mine to follow this new passion.
It’s during these days that my perspective started to change.
Taking those new routes with different landscapes was very inspirational to me, I felt like I was receiving new energy from those sights.
At first, I thought it was because I was merely discovering new places.
It wasn’t. I realized that I was just looking places similar to what I see in my every day but with a different angle.
That different angle was confirming my feeling of missing something, something important.
Do we really know what’s around us?
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where, one day, you realize that you’re spending time with someone that you don’t, really, know who he is?
I turned around that I was living my places without having a deep connection and understanding of them.
It was time to change! I turned on my researcher mode.
I started to talk to people about our surroundings, read some articles and guides.
During my interviews with people and friends, there was evidence that I wasn’t the only one missing a satisfying bound with our lands.
But the things that came out of my research were stunning, inspiring and beautiful.
Here are some of the findings that surprised me the most:
Doccione Waterfalls — Small and gentle waterfalls hidden inside a forest on a road I’ve taken many times to visit one of my customers company.
Borghetto sul Mincio — One of the most romantic places I ever been in. I discovered it listed in Top 5 most fascinating small villages of Italy. I entirely fall in love with it. There are windmills over water where you can rent a room for a night.
One of the most extended Labyrinths in Europe
When I heard about it I didn’t take it too seriously but look, I spent half a weekend there and it’s was a fun and alternative thing to do. I contains a permanent museum and a temporary art exposition. It’s a real labyrinth, and you need at least 30 minutes to figure out the right way out of it.
The small Tibet: Votigno
Such a fascinating Medieval Village, with ancient history, a magical place where monks still live in peace. The Dalai Lama itself has been there some years ago.
Those places are all one hour by car far from my home.
All of them a secret for most people I know.
So, do we really know what’s around us?
No. Most of the people out there don’t.
It is not that we’re missing another thing to do.
By not being conscious of our places we’re missing something about ourselves.
I become obsessed with this.
Now I changed my way to approach places I live in and the ones in my journeys. This experience is not only making my life better; it has become a clear vision of something I want to do.
I want to help people live memorable moments in their journeys in everyday life and while traveling. I want to help them touch the soul of the places, living authentic experiences to share each other.
This year I’ve spent most of my time working on a new idea to help everyone get in touch with places in a fun, inspiring, easy way.
It is called Blink, and it’s like Tinder but for places.
It’s a playful and yet simple experience, but it’s crafted with a profound and big idea behind. The idea to make your life better with the places of your present and the future.
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Blink this week is a trending Upcoming app on Product Hunt:
follow our journey to launch by subscribing here and get access to the beta with a special coupon for your next trip.
