Vienna Cammarota, on foot from Paestum to China: “I leave my daughters and grandchildren, I will walk for 4 years”
The interview
NoonApril 16, 2022 – 18:50
The woman from Campania is 72 years old and will leave on April 22 with a luggage of 30 kilos: In my backpack, shoes with soles, a few books and a few clothes. The Silk Road to celebrate Marco Polo’s journey
from Anna Paola Merone
In the backpack put my fear, Marco Polo’s Million and a couple of other books, a pair of thick-soled shoes and very few clothes. A thirty-kilo baggage that Vienna Cammarota carries on her shoulders to face, the only woman in history, a journey that will take her from Venice to China on the Silk Road. A journey that will last four years that the determined lady, originally from Cilento, will face at the age of 72. Archeoclub Ambassador of Italy, historical walker, Cammarota is preparing to embark on a Guinness World Record adventure.
When do you leave?
On 22nd from Paestum, on 26th April from the Lazzaretto Nuovo in Venice and in four years – day plus day less – he will arrive in Beijing. On April 19th this adventure will be presented in Naples, at the Savoia club. Where they asked me to return on my return to tell about my journey.
But how do you pack a suitcase for four years?
I’m actually preparing boxes to send to a daughter of mine who lives in Venice with things she’ll send me when she needs them. Heavier clothing and supplies that I have to be dispatched at the appropriate time. But I count on wearing local clothes and cutting my needs to the bare minimum
Why the Silk Road?
To celebrate Marco Polo’s journey, after following in Goethe’s footsteps on his Journey to Italy starting from Bohemia.
So will the Million be your travel diary?
Yes, although in recent years I have read a lot more to prepare myself. I prepare myself with great care for these trips and I have read about the experiences of those who in more recent times have crossed my itinerary.My instinct would have led me to undertake a journey without the support of technology, I would have liked to face a journey like ours avi. But I gave in to it and ended up opening myself up to contemporary supports
How much money will it take to make this trip?
The expected expenditure, also on the basis of the trips I have previously faced, of 40 thousand euros. But I will look for hospitality to save as I can and where I can.
She is gone for four years. Who leaves a house?
Three daughters – aged 48, 46 and 36 – and three grandchildren. A great one, she is 30 years old. The males are small: one is 7 years old and the baby eight months old.
Little more than a newborn. You’ll find him almost in elementary school.
S I’ve thought about it. I’m enjoying it these days, a baby doll.
Not married?
no more. I started 30 years ago with these adventures of mine: at first my husband followed me, then he got bored.
And was it worth it to give him up?
Yes, it was worth it
Aren’t your daughters worried about you?
I’m used to the idea of these adventures of mine. Indeed my staff, if we want to call it that, made up of my daughter and my son-in-law. They will manage the connections with the satellite phone, they will search where the credit card is needed, they will follow my path from a distance. And they will start crowdfunding to support the company. Of course, sometimes they have a few more thoughts, they fear that some areas they will cross are completely out of technology and they imagine that they will not be able to follow me throughout the journey. In other cases, not only were the trips shorter, but they took place in more ” covered ” areas.
Where have you been on your previous travels?
In Amazonia, Nepal, Tibert, on Everest, Goethe’s journey to Italy, Jesus’ way from Palestine to Israel … All on foot, walking.
How do you prepare for these adventures?
I prepare myself physically with targeted training. Especially on this occasion I am working, with the help of an expert, on the muscles to use them at their best. And then there is a food preparation, follows me around a nutritionist, who revolves around antioxidant foods.
What work did you do?
I was a bureaucrat, in charge of the financial service of a town in Cilento. I love numbers and I use them when I walk. It supports me not to be afraid, to clear my mind.
Are you often afraid?
important to be afraid. And knowing how to manage it. Being with yourself is a great challenge, having contact with nature, feeling what you have around you and what you are inside.
Are you a believer?
I am a Catholic but not a practitioner. But in every moment of difficulty and bewilderment, the thought goes to the divine, to the transcendent
Have you ever tried to involve your children in these paths of yours?
They never followed me. But they will be on my trail through Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, then to Turkey, Georgia, Iran, Turkimenistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. Somehow they will be close to me. I will also have the flag of Italy with me and mine will also be a path of peace. The meaning is all in the encounter with people through countries affected by conflicts that have a human, cultural and historical heritage to be discovered.
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April 16, 2022 | 18:50
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