Elton & Giulia

Hey guys, this is Elton & Giulia and we have great news! No, we are not getting married, and no Giulia is not expecting, even if we are in our 30s and that’s what “grown-ups” do.

We “just” decided to follow our inner voices, which few months back suggested to take some time off to dedicate ourselves full time to our well-being and personal growth. The time has come, and we are finally going for it! We are leaving the comfort of our “normal” lives in Turin, Italy to start a deeper journey together.

We will travel, eat, laugh, walk, meditate, meet people, party and do whatever we feel right until it feels right.
We will nurture our passions, creating amazing drinks and sharing inspiring stories.

We will let this experience change us and hopefully grow to a better, more true version of ourselves. We are so proud of our choice and feel very excited to share our journey with you: sharing is caring!

Elton

Albanian born and Italian raised, I take every day as an opportunity to improve myself, as a human being, a partner/son/brother, an innovative mixologist and a dedicated restaurant manager.

I grew up father-orphan in Skhoder facing the aftermath of 50 years of communist dictatorship which eventually led to a brutal civil war in the late 90s, which I escaped with my family when I was 12 years old.

After having a hard time settling in mainland Italy as an illegal immigrant, I found home in Sicily and immediately started working in restaurants to help supporting my mother and two sisters. My work became my passion and I decided to study hospitality management.

With blood, swet and tears (and talent) I climbed all the way up to the top, and worked in competitive environments such as Hilton Molino Stucky and Danieli Hotel in Venice.

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I moved to Turin to start a life with Giulia 2 years ago, and after a rough start I settled for a job as bar manager, even though I had not made a cocktail in 5 years! Some magic happened: I discovered a river of hidden creativity, fell in love with my job and blossomed every day to become a real mixologist. Slowly business picked-up, people travelled from the other side of the city to drink my creations, and I collaborated with top chefs in creating cocktail-food pairing menus. And no, I still don’t have a clue about how to make a Mai Tai and other classics, but I can live with it.

I love people, food and nature and value true lasting relations over everything.
My favorite things about Giulia are her childlike character, clear eyes and sweetness.
Favorite quote: Start with doing what is necessary, then what is possible. Suddenly you’ll find yourself doing the impossible – St. Francis of Assisi
Relationship tip: Show your love daily through small things: a compliment, a caress, cooking a healthy meal, doing the laundry and most of all, listen to your loved one. Do these things from your heart and they will do more good to you than to your partner.

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Giulia

Growing up in Italy from a wealthy family, I’ve had a very “easy” life full of fun activities, international experiences, academic achievements in top business schools and a sparkling career in corporate finance. So far so good. Or not so?

After a volunteering experience in Haiti I realized how unhappy I really was and how numb I’ve become, and started questioning everything in my life: my job, my peer group, my lifestyle, my values, my consumption habits. I knew that something was not quite right for me. This “awakening” was everything but fun. It involved a lot of self-judgment, resistance, confusion and pain.

But I eventually broke free, quitting my corporate job, leaving Milan and starting a self-discovery journey through volunteering, travelling, yoga and meditation, which led me to Brazil and India.

[read more=”” less=””]Unsurprisingly, the moment I started to be happier about myself everything unfolded smoothly: I came back to Italy, took over my family company, got further involved in social activities, found a new peer group, met Elton and moved in together in Turin.

I love nature, food, people, yoga, outdoor sports, reading, talking about life philosophy and spirituality. My favorite things about Elton are his compassion, empathy and generosity.

Favorite quote: I never lose, I either win, or learn – Nelson Mandela

Relationship tip: Find someone who is not afraid of your light and makes you shine brighter.[/read]

What we Value

We couldn’t have more different backgrounds, skills and personalities, but we definitely share the same set of values. We value love, humanity, beauty, smiles and simple acts of kindness.

We know, we sound a bit like Miss Universe contestants, but it’s crazy how much awareness it takes to actually incorporate your beliefs in your daily lives, on a constant basis.
Often times hectic work agendas and family life leave very little room for enriching activities, and the external world is so noisy that makes it very difficult to listen to your inner self.

The good news is that everyone gets to choose his priorities and has the power to move from the back seat to the front seat of his car, becoming the driver of his own life.
It just takes courage – and a lot of it – but the reward is definitely worth the effort.

Why we are doing it

If you had the patience to read our backgrounds and values you can now make an educated guess on the reasons that drove our decision.
We wish we could use all the big words that are so fashionable nowadays: lifestyle design, digital nomad, travel blogger, influencer and so on, but we are not really trying to sell nor become any of those.

The truth is that we simply want a break and need time for ourselves.

A break from (our perception of) the Western world, which we appreciate on so many levels but is backfiring on us. We simply cannot take anymore feeding our brains and hearts with populism, consumerism, lack of humanity, time deprivation, frustration and unhappiness. We surely don’t intent to get political, but if you live in the US or Europe, or you read the news, you know the situation is no piece of cake. While we appreciate (the few) people that find a lasting, healthy balance in this setting, we need a “soul rehab” from the poisonous effects of the environment we live in.

We are also taking a break from working 60 hours/week with opposite schedules, which results in not being able to spend more than 12 hours/week of awake time together and always being in a hurry.

We just don’t want to fall (back) into the “dead man walking” trap and live life disconnected from our true priorities and values.
We found the solution in taking time off “the real life” to do what we love: travel, meeting people, eating exciting food and mixing new ingredients in innovative ways.
Basically, we wish to “shake our attitudes” by mixing latitudes!

P.S. Please don’t get us wrong: our “real” life was great, we are surrounded by loving families and true friends, we love our jobs, we have a nice house and we feel privileged for all of it. We just feel that by doing this we are not leaving anything behind but just getting more!

How we are doing it

Every time we tell people about our project, they go like: “that’s very cool, I would do it too but I can’t afford it” or “of course you can, you are rich/you work with your family/you’re so talented”.
Yes we are very privileged, but we also worked hard to make it happen. We’ve been saving for the last 8 months or so, worked double jobs and we are planning to keep on working during our trip.

We know what you’re thinking: didn’t we just rambled on forever about how much we needed a break? Yeah, we do. And we will have it.
We deliberately decided not to have everything figured out in advance: we have not planned any travel further than 2 weeks away, nor looked into jobs yet.
We just have a huge faith in the universe (and trust ourselves), we know we are gonna be ok.

So, if you own a club, a fancy lounge bar, a tiki bar, a restaurant or a warung in any part of the world and you wanna offer us a job, or you own a house, sofa, tent, hut or igloo and wanna host us please find out where we are and contact us!