In November 2022, we arrived in Sardinia. First, myself coming from France, and then Tais arriving from Brazil.
Why Sardinia? Firstly, because winter was approaching, and being in a warmer place would be better for us. You know, our RV is a bit old, and the heater, which works pretty well, uses propane. It becomes a bit overwhelming to change the gas every week. Secondly, we needed to renew our documents to stay in Europe. The life of an immigrant is not easy 😅, and here begins our saga.
In Italy, if you don’t have an address, you almost don’t exist. So we started looking for a place to settle, declare that we had an address, and request permission to stay. For those who have already faced this experience, you know what I’m talking about. It is not an easy task to find a place, not even when you are familiar with the area. In a completely new place, it can be even more challenging. We broke down the problem into smaller ones, starting with finding an area on the island that we like, therefore, we began walking around, trying to find a good spot.
We found many beautiful spots where we would like to stay 🙌.
The next step was to find and rent an apartment for approximately three months. However, we struggled to find a suitable place in Sardinia. The island operates on a particular schedule, with most activities and businesses centered around the summer season. During winter, everything slows down significantly. What may be considered “business as usual” in the summer, becomes more challenging to find assistance for in the winter. Even simple tasks, such as getting a car fixed, require finding someone willing to help. The same applies to housing; typically, houses are readily available for rent during the summer, but not during the winter.
It was already March, and we were experiencing extremely poor weather conditions. It rained continuously for seven days, with no sign of stopping, and the forecast predicted another week of bad weather. In light of this, we couldn’t help but think:
Let’s forget about renting a place for a longer period and find a room just for the raining period instead.
And that’s how we ended up in Orosei. We found a place on Airbnb and sent a message, but unfortunately, we didn’t receive a response. Despite this, we decided to go anyway and wait in the city. Upon arriving, we received a message saying, “Sorry, but we cannot host you during that period.”
We continued our search for a place, this time on Facebook, and finally, someone gave us a positive response. The place they offered was beautiful, well-decorated, and reasonably priced. Additionally, it was conveniently located near a spot where we could park our motorhome.
The apartment owner was always present and we quickly became friends. She generously helped us with all the necessary documentation for obtaining permission to stay in Italy, and what was initially planned as a short stay of a couple of days turned into three months.
This pause came at an opportune time. It allowed us to make necessary preparations for the second season of our journey, address personal matters, and navigate through bureaucratic procedures. Now, we are fully ready to hit the road again.
Destiny, luck, or perhaps coincidence — whatever you may call it — the fact remains that our quest to find a place to stay couldn’t have turned out any better. The series of misadventures actually led us to a perfect place, surrounding us with kind and nice people. However, we still have some bureaucratic tasks and appointments to fulfill in Sardinia, so we will be returning soon.
Sardinia has been our longest stay thus far, spanning six months, and in just a few weeks, we will be heading to the neighboring island of Corsica.
See you soon!
