New projects

I’m writing this post from the seat 9B on the flight that is taking me from Casablanca to Venice, Italy. I’ve spent the last months in Morocco travelling like crazy as I’m in love with this country and the last week in Casablanca, I had the time to fix some priorities and to work on my next project. I live between one expedition and another and sometimes I need to stop and focus on sharpen the blade. So, here my next project:

The book
I started writing a book with a collection of my experiences on the road and some lessons I gave from the life, not only on traveling but also in business, relationships, friendships etc. My goal, as usual, is to inspire my audience to live a free, rich, brave and full life.

Next Expedition
I’m going to travel in Europe till October then, from November I will move to A) South America B) Africa, that’s depend a lot on the situation world-wide with this F*****g virus. The new 1290 Super ADV S is waiting for me, ready for the next trip and in few weeks I’ll be on the road again.

Tackle my Clutter
What is enough? Enough is a very personal metric. I am a minimalist person, I travel most of my time but, by nature, we all tend to collect stuff, and in a such way I am not different. I realised I have too many T-shirts, shoes, a car I don’t use, too many bikes in the garage, 3 bicycles, 16 helmets and a couple of cabinets full of motorcycle gear.. So, from time to time, I do the “spring cleaning”. But this time I do strongly. I sell everything, everything. I will just keep the very essential.

Stay on the list
I realised I’m late on my list, so I want to put some checks on it this year. I wrote that list 20 years ago and it’s still my lighthouse. You have a bucket list?

A positive mindset

Living on the road could be an astonishing experience, but sometimes something go wrong, suffer a theft, puncture a tire, lose your phone, or… crash. When something bad happens, what do you normally do? Do you get stressed out or feel helpless? I did, for so long till the day I discovered that getting mad and not get quickly over it, is just a waste of time.

When something bad happens, I do everything possible not to fall into stress. I don’t focus on the problem, I shift my mindset towards a solution. I learned the hard way that something good can always come from something bad. 

I broke the chain between Chile and Argentina, nearest village at 60 miles. I slept in a mountain shelter and in the morning I met a guy who invited me on a three days horse tracking. Was fantastic.

Got an accident during my vacation in Italy and forgot to sell my Bitcoins as my plan was.. You can imagine the rest of the story.

I suffered a ligament contusion in my knee while training on a enduro bike and during the physiotherapy I discovered a new Taylor made way to train my legs and now I’m much stronger and with a better posture.

I have several experiences like these. It's all mindset. All perspective. We control our attitude, effort, and focus. If we choose, we can maintain a positive mindset in the face of any adversity.

I’m a KTM Ambassador

I have the immense pleasure of announcing that KTM has chosen me as their official Adventure Traveler Ambassador.
Everything started the last February, I was in Morocco, sipping my tea and checking email, and I got one from the KTM marketing dept. with some compliments for my work on the travels and a video call invitation.
The call was super informal and friendly, KTM has recognised me as a global and authentic traveller and they would love to associate the brand to me. They didn’t beat around the bush, they went straight to the point: “KTM is looking for an official adventure traveller, we have a long list of potential candidates, but we want you, you’re in?”

Few days later I was at the KTM HQ in Mattighofen, Austria welcomed by some cool guys with the orange T-shirt, everyone here is smiling and friendly and I felt at home since the very first moment. I’ve got the opportunity to visit the KTM Motohall then I tested the new 1290 Super Adventure S for a day (I’ll write something on that beast the next days cos it really deserves) on some twisty roads in the Austrian hills. After discussing the terms of the collaboration, they took me to the lobby at the main office where a shiny 1290 S was on display and…. "well, this is your bike", BOOM!

In a nut shell they just want me to continue to do my journey, in the exactly way I did till now, true to my style, nothing more. The word here is “authenticity”, they want me to tell my story to the KTM audience, a real traveller who can tell a real story. That’s it.

Shooting time…

Sometimes life is really ironic, when I was 14 my dream was to ride a KTM but at the time I had no money to afford it, now at 51 KTM calls me offering the iconic most prestigious model, the 1290 Super Adventure S - the top bike for long distance travellers as I am. Plus, they will provide all the gears, tires, assistance, technical and logistical support and much more.

With my friend Paolo Cattaneo

This means that in the next expeditions I will have KTM by my side and the opportunity to test all the new products and materials of our magnificent brand.
I am actually planning the next adventures, some news are coming up shortly, stay tuned.
And the best is yet to come.

The amazing KTM team for the very first day of shooting

The traveller's Apps

Let’s talk about Apps. I was asked several times what are the apps I use more, so here my list which of course doesn’t include the obvious App we all daily use like Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram etc..

My Ride by KTM
Find some amazing, twisty roads with the KTM App. You can also connect it to your bike and see the directions at a glance on the dashboard. It’s cool, only for KTM lovers..

Guro Maps
My favourite maps app ever, strongly recommend the pro version.

Maps.me
GPS is not enough and sometimes you need to check this App which works on and offline. It’s free.

Google Maps
Yep, you already know it.. (Terrain mode)

Accuweather
Best App to check the weather, free.

iOverlander
It helps me sometimes to find an accomodation, a camping spot, a gas station or just PoI marked by another traveller. Free-

Booking
From time to time I reward myself with a good hotel..

Xe
Best app to convert currencies, a must for travellers.

CyberGhost
With CyberGhost you can fake your location. That’s would be important when you book hotels or flights because some companies have different prices for different countries. Fake your location to a poorer country that the one you’re in and often you find much better prices for the same service.

Dropbox
Best cloud to save your files and photos, a must for you.

Evernote
Keep all in order man, always. Nothing best than Evernote. Can’t live without it.

Cronometer
If like me you are in a nutrition plan, that’s the App for you. Cronometer tracks your calories and macros. A must for fitness guys.

The diet of a moto traveler

Travel on an adventure bike, often off road, is tricky, challenging and our body has to be fit and healthy, and nutrition plays an essential role in our well-being.
There aren’t shortcuts, we need to work hard to be healthy and fit, but trust me, it's worth it.

If we look on social networks or TV, we will only see healthy, physically fit and happy people. If instead we look out of our window we will see sad people, certainly not physically fit and often overweight. Why?
In nature, we find foods that are hydrated, rich in vitamins and minerals and low in calories. In the supermarket, on the other hand, we often find dehydrated foods, poor in vitamins and minerals and rich in calories. This is because the natural and processed food have a different energy density; the processed food has much more calories for the same quantity.
By my experience and from all the studies I made on nutrition, I strongly recommend to eat only natural, whole food. Here my advises:

• Calculate your calories, go to a professional or roughly multiply your current body weight in pounds by 12 to determine the number of calories you should eat.

• 5-6 small meals a day.

• Vegetables, fruits and fish (white meat is allowed too), eggs. That’s where your calories should come from. Avoid processed sugar, bread, pasta, red meat, milk.

• One gram of protein per pound of your body weight every day. Get 30% of your calories from fat meaning, to make these easier to count, convert them to grams. Since a gram of fat contains nine calories. The rest of your calories come from carbohydrates. To calculate these, subtract your fat calories and then your protein calories from the total. Protein and carbohydrates both contain four calories per gram.

• Keep with you protein powder, a good and natural one.

• Drink tons of filtered water.

  If you can’t recognise something, don’t eat it. If possible, eat raw food. Fast one day a week (I’ll write a post on this subject). Stay lean, stay fit, stay healthy. Fat people live a life of hardships. The fitter you are, the easier it is to stay fit. Whereas the more you deteriorate your body, the harder it is to come back, and claw your way back to a baseline. It requires heroic acts.

  Stay fit, you matter. 

  Remember that you are what you eat.

You are your habits

A prosperous life isn’t created overnight, the secrets are your daily habits. Yes, just daily habits. Your diet, exercise routine, the quality of your sleep, self-development time, etc. – are the building blocks of your health, success and prosperity. And if you want to be happy, really happy, you should pay attention on that.
Daily habits are the foundational element of the success of your life. As a full time traveler, I live on my bike but my focus is always on my habits, because I hate bad surprises, in any area of my life. I’m strongly convinced that I’m living the life of my dreams because I keep the focus on positive, empowering habits.
If you make a habit of exercising, eating healthily food, drinking tons of water on a regular basis, better health is the result.
If you make a habit of reading, listening motivating podcast, spending time with successful people, success is the result.
If you make a habit of treating people with respect, empathy, and caring, much better relationships are the result.
You don’t actually create a successful life, you just choose the right daily habits and they create it. It’s simple. I learned it the hard way. So, if you have some limiting habits, start eliminating it one by one, and replace them with positive, empowering ones.

If I had to choose one keystone habit, that one big domino that knocks down all the others, it's getting up early. I can tap into the best part of myself that is committed to my vision & goals, which spring from my values. What's truly important to me.
It also allows for a solid hour to complete my morning routine, the primary purpose of which is to cultivate a positive mindset. I program myself to be who I want to be and achieve what I want to achieve.

Changing or improving your habits will bring you to become the person you want to be. So, why not choose to become a healthy, interesting, fascinating, curious, joyful, sexy, harmonious, wealthy, successful, spiritual, adventurous, friendly, talented, happy one?

Let's talk about money

There are 3 subjects topics that seam to be a taboo in our society, they are Religion, Sex, Money. It seams that people talk about everything but not sex, religion or money. Why? Because we have built a strong belief that these topic are something to keep personal. You probably have been educated to believe certain things about sex and sexuality, religions, money that are completely false. And it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that when you have erroneous beliefs about important things, they prevent you from creating the life you desire. Today we talk about money, something always useful if you won’t die tomorrow.

I’ve travelled in 72 countries, have met thousands of people and this stuff is pretty the same: Religion, Sex and money are taboos.

Family, government, school told you that rich people are evil, greed, they cheat on taxes, etc.. Maybe you remember some old says like “money can’t buy happiness” or “we are poor but at leas er are honest”; the environments in which we grew up are steeped in this nonsense.
As a result, it creates a lot of negative and erroneous beliefs, most of these emotionally-charged beliefs are based upon centuries-old stereotypes and superstitions. And people act the victims role sabotaging themselves and prevent them to be healthy, wealthy and happy.

So, the point is: if you want to be financial free, you first have to break these self-limiting beliefs. Otherwise you will keep sabotaging yourself and prevent you to live the life of your dream. It's amazing how the way you think about yourself changes the way you think about the world. You begin to understand that the only way to change the world is to change yourself.

I was asked hundreds times how I can afford to be a full time traveler without working and my answer is all the same: “I am financial free, living by passive income”, at this point I feel on me the inquisitive eyes of those who don't have the faintest idea of what I'm talking about. Guys, let me be clear with the next sentence:

If you have to do something to make money, you have a job. If you earn money while sleeping, then you have a business. So, my advise is to focus on build a business, not looking for a high salary. Monthly wage is a trap.

You can’t build a business overnight, but you can change yourself. To change yourself, you have to start from your thoughts, that leads you to change your approach to the life, then you change your behaviour and then you change your circumstances… and then you manifest prosperity in all areas of our life: relationships, health, finance, sexuality, and overall success.

So, change yourself first and then.. I strongly recommend to consider of build a business, not to find a job. There are plenty of books on it and you can find enormous amount of informations online, just start. The main point is “do not work for money, make money works for you”, that’s the only way to be financial free and travel full time.

How much you need to travel full time on a motorbike?

I have been asked so many time on how much does it cost to live on the road. Guys, I take it straight, living on the bike is not free but, to be sincere, money are not the main reason why many don’t travel (we will talk about the real difficulties we have to tackle in another post).
But, the good news is that it would be absolutely affordable and by my personal experience I can say that everybody can do it, only depends on the level of the motivation.
Just ask, what is important to you?

I know several full time travellers, some of them work on the way as Amazon sellers, some are computer engineers and draw codes, some teach English or Spanish or French online, some have kind of rent to rent companies.. I know a web-graphic freelance who makes money on freelancer.com - several SMM find clients on upward.com, the list is pretty long. The point is that there is always a way to make the money you need to travel full time, everything depends on you.

There are three different style to earn on the road:
1. Being financial free, this means that you’ve already built your cash machine and now you live by passive income.
2. You work while travelling, that means that you do something on your journey like sell online, web commerce, IT engendering or teaching something online (webinar, tutorial..).
3. You get a job and work a while, this means that you work, save, travel then you work, save, travel. Repeat.

How much you need to travel full time on a motorbike?
I know a guy in Argentina who use to live with $ 400/month, I know an american girl who spends at least $ 8-10.000 a month. Depends on what you want to do on your journey.
Roughly speaking, you can live with less then $ 3.000 a month, you would spend even less if you camp every night, much more if you love fancy hotels, that’s up to you.
If you are good enough to fix your bike, rewear it from time to time, travel without shipping the bike around the world, you can spend even less.
If you travel in US, then you can find several cheep places where to stay, gas is not that expensive and food is quite good and affordable. South America is super cheep, especially Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. South and East Europe like Italy, Spain or Portugal or are quite expensive, north Europe is very expensive. Africa is super cheep. Australia is mega expensive.
Never travel is Asia, I’ll let you know.
Here a rough example on an average month for a moto-traveller.
Assumptions:
Hotel or camping or tent, average 30€ a day.
Gas, you do not travel everyday, so 20€ a day would be approximately fair.
Food is just 20€ a day, so you won’t get fat!
Bike maintenance you would have some costs (tires, oil, damages..)
Insurance, you must need it, you can spend 50€ a month but a good insurance is a must to have, 300€/month is fair.
Unexpected events, trust me, something always crop up.

Brazil, I miss you

Cross to Rio Grande

During one of my expeditions in South America I visited Brazil where I spent a wonderful couple of months.

View fullsize

Got a punched tyre in the Pantanal

I entered the country from Bolivia (another incredible country), already at the cross border of this extraordinary country you can understand many things, the police high-fives you and in their offices, where your documents are checked, samba or bossanova music spread from the radio.  Brazilians don't speak, they sing.  Brazilians don't walk, they dance.
The hospitality of these people is something beyond all human measurement. They are just incredible, really nice people.

Cooking time..

I wandered for a while in the southern part of the country visiting the states of Mato Grosso do Sur, Paraná, Santa Caterina, obviously almost all of them riding off road. I camped in the mountains, crossed some incredibly beautiful hills, and went fishing for food more than once. I was just in love with Brazil, everything was extraordinary, the majestic of nature, the easy way Brazilians live, the music. Brazil was truly a great adventure.

Out of gas, again…

I also did a tap in Florianopolis where I took a nice week of vacation parking my motorbike in the underground garage mod the hotel, where after a couple of days an incredible downpour came that filled the whole city and the lake with water  almost completely the garage taking a nice bath to my beloved motorcycle.  I had some serious work over the next few days to clean and dry the filters and put it back on its head.

I went to the Iguazù waterfalls, something unforgettable (see the video below).
Brazil is a wonderful country, with an extraordinary nature and above all people beyond any normality.  I plan to return there soon to visit the northernmost part, I have many friends waiting for me and I don't want to make them wait too long.

Yes, I feel “saudade”.

MORE PICTURE

Iguazù Waterfalls

Florianopolis beach

Always be ready to change your plan in 20 minute

The most important things are the relationships you have with the people you love, and the environment you expose yourself to. Always remember that people you spend your time with and places you are in, are much more important that what you do. If you do not like something or someone just say no.
That’s why I’d like to share with you my “20’s rule”. Yes, that’s the magic rule that save you in many different ways.

Every important decision must be made in 20 seconds
Don't let your convoluted, preconceived and belief-based reasoning get the upper hand. Decide by instinct, you will have the least chance of making mistakes.

Always be ready to change your plan in 20 minute.
That’s give you an huge advantage, people are generally indecisive and take a long time to make a decision or change a plan. Be fast, 20 minutes.

Exercise 20 minutes
Do 20 pushups ( for 3-4 series), 20 squats, 20 pull-ups (5x4).. Run 20 minutes, do 20 minutes HIIT..

More examples: when I find the right camping spot, I set up tent, sleeping bag, I check the bike etc in no more that 20 minutes. In the morning I can leave my warm sleeping bag, pack up my stuff and be on my bike in 20 minutes. Some travellers need hours, I prefer to save precious time to enjoy the nature around, read my book, do some exercises or sip a cold beer.
Same with hotel room, hostel etc. From the bed to the bike, 20 minutes.
If you do not like someone, politely leave her/him in 20 seconds. Cut the conversations, just do it. Own 20 things, be focused on the 20% of things that really matter, repeat something 20 times and you’ll master it, eat 20 grams of protein at every meals.. I can go on hours. Oh man, never forget the magic of the 80/20 Pareto rule! My favourite ever.

Catting time to your thinking system improve your instinct to take a quick decision and, trust your guts, they never lie.

Always be ready to change plan in 20 something.. That’s what I do, and it works.

How long did it take me to write this post? Yeah, you already know the answer.

My interview on Motoreetto (in Italian 🇮🇹)

I’ve been interviewed by an italian YouTuber, a friend, a biker. Nicola is a nice guy with an immense passion for motorbikes, he runs a successful YouTube channel and every week he hosts a biker, a traveler, or just a gipsy like me.. This is the interview (in Italian), hope you like it.

Follow Motoreetto here:
Instagram / motoreetto.it / YouTube

Live with less and enjoy it

We want to lose weight, we buy weight loss books, workout equipment, supplements.
We want to travel, we buy a suitcase, a travel pillow, the perfect carry-on luggage.
We want to start meditating, we might get a meditation mat.

That’s insane.

Adding these things to our lives brings problems, not just solutions. We should consider, rather than adding, subtracting. We should say no to bullshit and say yes to life.

People sometimes look at me quizzically when I proclaim that I don’t need more stuff, and that I’m constantly getting rid of what I do have.
What kind of weirdo is this? Why would you want less stuff?

Because less is better.

Less means you worry less. You need less storage. You search for things less. You are less bogged down by clutter. Less means you’re lighter. You’re freer. You can focus on better things. Less means you can travel more quickly. You spend less time with stuff, and more time doing stuff.

Less is more sustainable, more beautiful.

Life is better without stuff.

I do not travel (always) alone

Central Morocco, found a guy with his bike. One minute and we are friends, and now we travel together for a while. Same old story, we are travellers.
We got lost in the Atlas mountains, central Morocco. But a beautiful berber family hosted us.. here’s a small video of our journey.
Thank you Saad, you rock. Maybe one day we will ride together again, Inshallah.

More pictures from Morocco

Tifnit, another Moroccan pearl

Riding my bike on the desert sand along the south coast of Morocco, 20 miles south of Agadir, I discovered this small fishing and surfer village.
I then decided to stop for lunch here and I met Abubaca, a gentleman who runs a small beach restaurant for over thirty years.
Abubaca made me delicious grilled sardines and a fantastic Moroccan salad which I ate in front of the ocean.
As always, when you get lost you come across wonderful places like this.

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About toxic people

If you’re hanging around with people who have a harmful beliefs system and a negative approach to life, you're fucked....and I'll tell you why.
Someone, much wiser than me once said “You’re the average of five people who you spend the most of your time with”........I would add “Amen to that ”.
I’m sure they are not bad men and women. I’m quite sure they don’t want to influence you with their beliefs or with their “be realistic” when you talk about your dreams. I’m sure your parents wanted the best for you when they encouraged you as a kid to go for the better, more secure jobs, in a big company, if you’re lucky. I’m sure your teacher wanted you to be successful, talking about your future colleges and the great opportunities that follow up.
Yes, there are some people who truly don’t want  you to be successful, financially in particular, because that would be the proof to them that it's not possible. They just want you to play small, like them.

You have no idea how many times people found my business ideas just ridiculous, how many times they'd say “you cannot be serious ” when I talked to them about my project to travel the world on a motorbike. For them, everything was just too difficult, or even impossible.
They would use the same old cliches over and over again  “You must have lots of money to make money.”  “it's too risky." “You must have some contacts to be rich.” and “You're not avid, you can’t be rich.” They were professional enough in explaining how foolish my business ideas were..
In order for my project to travelling full time, alone,  on a dirty bike they ridiculed my dream and said “how can you stay such long periods away from your sons?” and “come down from the stars” and my favourite ever  “don’t do it, it's too dangerous”.

People, most of the time, subconsciously influence you.

But I can assure you without any doubt, that certain people in your life are totally toxic and you should cut off any contact with them completely. Even if they're your parents, your brother or your so-called best friend. Cut them off!
They're dangerous. Their life is a complete routine between fear, doubt and uncertainty. They infect you with their poor vision. They're often adorable people and they act with the best of intentions and well-being but they're just dragging you down with their misery. They have been programmed for mediocrisy, to have an average life, to not take risks, to not be a critical thinker. In a simple word, to be conformed. The fact that you can be successful (in my case being financial free and a full time traveller) is a pain for them.

Cut off the toxic people from your life, immediately.....that's the best gift you can give to yourself and your future.

The Sahara experience

Wake up early to discover the incredible power of the sunrise in the desert, walking in the sand, breathing the fresh air of the Moroccan morning.
Something magical.

Chefchaouen, the beautiful blue

“The special appeal of Chefchaouen goes beyond its prime mountainside location. Travelers are fascinated by the surreal impression it leaves. The facades of its houses are painted blue and white, so that the whole city appears to be drenched in azure.” from visitmorocco.com - and I can’t agree more.

Chefchaouen is much more than just a pretty face. I spent here a couple of days and it worth every single second, the blue city is something magical. Getting lost in its narrow streets in the midst of the beautiful houses all painted in blue is extraordinary, sipping a tea in the square in front of the casbah is mandatory.

Chefchaouen is a must for travelers and also a paradise for hikers. The surrounding mountains are full of tempting walking trails. Choose any of them and discover an entirely different, remote side of Morocco: the Rif Mountains.

I’m in love with Morocco, that’s not a secret, is the 4ᵀᴴ time here but I’ve never visited this pearl, the "Little Blue City", something incredible.

You ARE the guy in charge

You ARE the guy in charge..

When I was much younger, my dream was to be successful. The problem I had at the time, was that I didn’t really, exactly know what being succesful meant. I thought it was being with beautiful women, a big fat bank account and lots of fancy cars.
I was so naive.
My first business failed, I blamed my partner. My second business also failed, I blamed the government.
My third business was a total disaster, which led to bankruptcy and also took me on a journey of depression and other unhealthy issues.
So, I’ve got multiple business failures and 4 dysfunctional, toxic relationships in a row....and much much more.
I blamed him, then her, then these and those.

But, let’s face it, the truth is:

Who was that one person, who was always at the scene of the crime? 

You are the guy in charge of your life, the one in the drivers seat. Blaming others for your failures is a losing game that brings you down even harder and deeper. Man up, take charge and complete responsibility for your choices.
Playing the victim is just a way to avoid facing personal responsibility and accountability.  Knowing that, you can change your perception of reality, you can create the life you want to live instead of looking for someone or something to blame.
You’re not here to be a victim who blames the world, you’re here to live the life of prosperity, joy, love, passion, health and wealth.

The future is in your hands, man up....

You...and only you, are the guy in charge.

I don’t think 2021 will be magically the best year

I don’t think 2021 will be magically the best year ever unless you:

1. Take control of your emotions

2. Take control of your finance

3. Take complete responsibility of your choices

4. Learn to say NO

5. Make you health before everything

6. Cut off toxicity, in thoughts, people, relationships..

New year resolutions sucks. 
Enthusiasm is common on these days, Commitment is much more rare.
Knowing what to do is not an issue, COMMITTING to it is the problem!

Morning routines

I’m writing this post from seat 8G on a plain from Casablanca to Istanbul, I’m traveling Morocco but my bike needs some attentions so I left her at the KTM dealer and took the opportunity to fly to Turkey for a 2 weeks vacation, enjoying one of my favorite cities on the Christmas time and NYE.

Istanbul is one of my favorite cities ever, something magical and wonderful that I can't resist. I think I've been there at least 15 times and every time it's really incredible, extraordinary.

istanbul is definitely one of my places.

I’m thinking about the morning routine I have, and I’d like to share with you some tips. I think you’ll love it.

Whether you are building a business, raising kids, writing a book, managing people, training for a marathon or selling margaritas on the beach, your morning rituals and routines establish your success rate. Yes man, no shortcuts, I’ve learned it the hard way.

Here's my morning rituals, I strongly suggest you to set up yours:

• Get up early

• Meditation.

• Healthy breakfast.

• Workout.

• Check your ToDo list you’ve made the night before and do only 2 or 3 important tasks. Never do something someone else can do for you. Delegate or die.

Then I hit the road riding my bike, breathing the pleasure of freedom. Plan your day starting from priorities, don’t waste time on bullshit.