Adventure

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“Shoot a Travel TV Series” has been hanging at the top of my life list for a while.  Now that JS0 Italy is in production (pinch me) it’s time to attack a new list, the definitive JS0 Italy Bucket List.

Even the most ambitious bucket listers would find it difficult to narrow down all of the must-do experiences in a country as soul-feeding as Italy.  But we’ve managed to conjure up nine.  The 10th is up to YOU!

Send us YOUR ULTIMATE ITALIAN EXPERIENCE via Twitter @jetsetzero (include #js0italy) or via Facebook.  The best one wins a sweet Jet Set Zero t-shirt and the glory of watching me, Perrin, Sarah and Lynne attempt to carry out your awesome idea.

Time is ticking and we’ve only got one Italian summer to live out our weirdest and wildest dreams so without further ado, The Bucket List:

1.  Ride bikes through the Italian countryside ACCOMPLISHED

2.  Appear on the Italian news ACCOMPLISHED

3.  Cruise the canals of Venice ( Perrin & Sarah) ACCOMPLISHED

4.  Crash a Miss Italia pageant

5. Find and wear the ultimate Mumuu (Courtney & Lynne)

6.  Make pasta with an Italian grandma

7.  Sail the Amalfi coast

8.  Take a Nutella bath

9. Fit the cast in a vintage cinquecento

10.  ??? VIEWER VOTED ???

[Photo:  David]

We came, we sweat, we learned, we conquered.  A grueling week of ACLE teacher orientation in Sanremo officially finished today with this photo and a resounding sigh of relief.  At 150 20-somethings strong, this week’s orientation was the largest in ACLE history.  We were a team of many hidden talents and nationalities:  Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, Canadians, Scottish, English, Americans, and Irish.  From here we’ll each embark on our own Italian journey…some to Bari, some to Rome, Veneto Tuscany, Lombardia and beyond.  Stay tuned for the exact coordinates of team Jet Set Zero!  Here’s a clue:  we’re 4.5 hours away from Sanremo by train…

The United Nations of ACLE

Lynne and I are part of the ACLE teacher training staff this week and Perrin and Sarah are two of the 140 trainees from the around the world who have come to Sanremo to learn how to be an ACLE tutor in Italy. Next week we join forces to work together as tutors in an English immersion camp. Tomorrow is D-Day when our fate will be decided. Where in Italy would you like to see us go?

Some stuff you won’t see in the episodes:

Dinner with the BF's Bro

Via Piero della Francesca

The Best Terrace in Milan

For our holiday weekend celebrating the Battle of Pichincha when Quito won its independence (also known as Laurene’s last weekend before she started her 6-day-a-week job), a few of us fled the mean streets of Quito for some fresh air, hot springs, and adventure. And how could that be bad?

Poor Ryan was sick with what looked like the flu and wasn’t able to make it. That’s okay, because there are so many outdoor activities to enjoy in Baños that we’re all more than happy to go back. Yes, baños is the Spanish word for bathroom, but the town is named after its restorative hot springs (or baths).

We soaked in some hot springs set at the base of a volcano for a mere $3; at dusk we watched a waterfall trickle down the mountain as we lounged in the mineral pools. Then we worked up a sweat dancing at a club called Son Cubanos, where the happy hour was whenever the DJ said it was.

We came to Baños in search of an adrenaline rush -  our next mission was choosing between bungee jumping, river rafting, waterfall rappelling, horseback riding, and hiking.

As soon as I left the big city of Saigon to start exploring the rest of Vietnam just over a month ago, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Suddenly I could breathe again. The rut I had been experiencing seemed like ancient history. I was back to doing what I enjoyed most: travelling. I am a fairly restless person – not always this way, mind you – and for better or worse, this characteristic has coloured many of my decisions over the past 10 years.

And now that I’ve seen Vietnam from top to bottom, the thought of returning to Saigon and working causes a bit of a twitch to develop. So I’m not.

Instead, I’m heading off on my own. The next month will see me backpacking through Southern Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). I will be posting updates and stories from the road, assuming I can find an internet connection in some of the places I have on the agenda. I’m planning on continuing until there’s no dong left in my pocket.

Hope you’re up for the journey.