Exploring the World Through an Italian Lens: Solo Travel Tips, Local Dining Experiences, and Authentic Guides with Andrea Rizzo

Join Andrea Rizzo, an Italian solo traveler, as he shares his unique travel experiences, insider tips for navigating Italy, and advice for exploring local cultures. Discover his favorite dining moments, travel tips, and guides available on Thatch Travel Shop.

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Exploring the World Through an Italian Lens: Solo Travel Tips, Local Dining Experiences, and Authentic Guides with Andrea Rizzo

Oct 11 2024

Meet Andrea, an Italian globetrotter sharing his unique travel perspective.

In this interview, Andrea shares his journey as a solo traveler from Italy, his passion for experiencing local cultures, and offers insights into his adventures across the globe and his unique perspective as an Italian exploring the world.

As a solo traveler from Italy, how do you think your cultural background influences the way you experience and interact with new places and cultures during your travels?

I always loved to travel and explore the world but what kept me going was that most of the time nobody wanted to follow me (for various reasons) so I started to also travel solo discovering a new way and different way to enjoy travelling.

What I most enjoy is planning all the logistics, accommodation and activities, so every trip I do is planned by myself. I was born in Italy and grew up there except for a brief semester in the US during my high school period. So it is clear that my perception is somehow biased by my Italian heritage, even though my semester abroad helped widen my horizons.

When I go abroad, if time permits, I always try to learn my destination local language because for me it is important to create a bond with locals.

As Mandela said: ”If you speak to a man in a language he understands, that goes to the head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to the heart.”

Regarding my italianity, I found that most Italians abroad tend to not leave their comfort zone and look for something familiar like eating in an Italian restaurant. I am the opposite, I don't mind experiencing local cuisine or doing activities locals do.

You mentioned that you love to eat like a local wherever you go. Can you share a memorable dining experience from your travels that truly captured the essence of a place you visited?

It's hard to think about just one memorable experience. A special mention goes to my semester abroad: eating Christmas dinner with my host families, doing countless barbecues or eating a hot dog while watching high school sports, I felt like I was American.

In Siracusa, Sicily me and my mother bumped into a small typical restaurant that was full of locals; then there is a street food in Ho Chi Minh where I ate the Bánh xèo; eating salmon in Oslo or deer meat in Stockholm; eating with my hands in a restaurant in Addis Ababa where even the waiter didn't know how to speak to me in English and the menu was all in Ethiopian; entering in a Shanghai restaurant full of Asiatic people and when I entered everybody stopped and looked at me (like I was an alien) or like yesterday night where I ate a cordon bleu in a well known restaurant in Basel (I had to wait almost an hour and half as it was really packed with people).

These are only a few examples and it is really hard for me to choose one. Sometimes it can also be something very simple or common, like eating a take away pizza and a beer but you are sitting on a rock surrounded by locals while you watch the sunset over Stockholm. In the end, just being in a city or place and eating local dishes can be sufficient and be a pleasant memory of a place.

Do you have any tips for people who are nervous about traveling solo for the first time?

Go! Don't overthink it, you won't be disappointed. It doesn't need to be something far, you can also do a one/two days trip in your country or even in your city and experience it as a tourist. Of course reading blogs or guides like the ones on Thatch can help you understand better how safe your destination is. You can also choose to book guided trips with a group and go solo, so you will have the chance to meet new people and make new friends.

I know that there is bad in this world, but there is also good and somehow you have to start to trust strangers, not everybody is there to scam you. I must confess that being a man has helped me a lot and I know that unfortunately sometimes being a woman can make you more vulnerable, but this doesn't mean you have to give up. I have met a lot of women solo travelers.

One last but important thing: trust your instincts. If you feel something is not worth doing just don't do it. One perks of being solo travel is to choose what to do without having to compromise with somebody else.

Italy is a popular travel destination. Do you have any insider tips for avoiding tourist traps and experiencing the country from a local's perspective?

Italy is indeed one of the most visited countries in the world. I would lie if I tell you that everything is perfect in Italy. From north to south there are a lot of differences and habits. We Italians enjoy taking it easy and we love to relax, especially the further south you go.

Knowing Italian, even a few words can make you enjoy your experience more and also create a direct connection with locals.

It is easy to find people that try to lure you into doing activities or tour with them and they most of the time ask you to pay with cash so it is not traceable, I advise to stay away from them and book activities from the official websites or from well known website like Viator or GetYourGuide (check also the reviews of other fellow travelers).

Public transportation can be sometimes a mess, especially in the south, but also be cautious with taxis as they tend to scam tourists. When possible use Uber or Freenow. Also renting a car can be a valid option.

In big cities it is also very easy to find tourist trap restaurants that serve high priced low priced food, so my advice is to ask a local what his favourite restaurants are and check reviews online.

Finally, no cappuccino after 11!

Do you have any fun adventures coming up? What’s at the top of your travel bucket list?

As of now I am on a business trip in Basel, next week I have a day trip in Nice in France. Then a business trip in Barcelona, which is my favourite city and I know very well. On the first day of November I am going to Thessaloniki in Greece for the weekend and in December I am looking for something outside Europe during Christmas time. My top choice would be to go to North America.

What can people expect to find in your Thatch Travel Shop? How do your guides stand out from others available on Thatch?

My Thatch Travel Shop is a work in progress. Recently I have created a page where I put all my guides for Italian destinations. I am working on Perugia guide. But there are also other guides of some places that I have visited and if time allows me I would also add some more destinations. As of now I am more focused on Italian destinations as it is my area of expertise. There are really guides on Thatch and I must admit that competition is fierce.

What I am trying to do is to write about my experience or also about my research of places. As I keep creating guides I try to specialise more about the experience. An example? I have made the guide about a romantic weekend with a Vespa in Rome. Usually my travel are very fast paced as I try to squeeze as much as possible, so this sometimes can be reflected on my guides.