Claudia Tavani: Leaving Law for a Life of Travel

Travellers' Tales is a series on this blog in which travellers share the experiences that changed them. This week the guest is Claudia Tavani, who comes from Cagliari in Sardinia and has been travel-obsessed for as long as she can remember. Claudia spent her working life in human rights law and academia, defending cultural identity, until November 2013, when she gave in to her biggest passion. She set off for Latin America and has barely stopped since. The blog came naturally: she wanted family and friends to be able to follow along.

You spent years in human rights law. What did that life actually look like?

I worked most of my life in human rights. I have a BA, two Master's degrees — one in International Human Rights and one in International Human Rights Law — and a PhD in Law. I worked in academia, published books, articles and studies, and did a great deal of work for NGOs. I was often underpaid, when I was paid at all, and hardly recognised for any of it. I hated it.

Did you always suspect you wanted something different?

Looking back, I can remember thinking at the end of high school, and even during my BA, that I loved the idea of working in tourism and writing like a journalist — which is close to what I do now. I do not regret the PhD or studying human rights. I care deeply about the cause, I still discuss the issues, express my opinion and take part in the debates. I simply cannot face looking for a paid job in that field any more.

So why did you finish the PhD?

Stubbornness. I could not look at myself in the mirror and accept that I had failed to finish it, so I finished. I think I knew from the first day that I did not like it, that academic life was not for me. I saw it as a glamorous world, I suppose, and I wanted to prove I could succeed in it. I did — until I decided I wanted to go back to Italy, where academia is a closed world that shuts out anyone who is not the son of somebody, or connected to whoever is already inside.

What finally pushed you to leave?

In July 2013 I learned that my contract as a researcher would not be renewed because of a lack of funds. I could stay and keep doing a job I no longer enjoyed, or treat it as the chance to live the dream: travel across Latin America. I left in November 2013 and started the blog at www.myadventuresacrosstheworld.com as a way of keeping family and friends updated on the places I was seeing.

I came home earlier than planned because I needed surgery to remove my tonsils, and found myself jobless. That was the moment I knew I would never look for an academic job again. Nothing could have made me less happy.

Was it hard to give up a stable career?

I never felt that I was leaving a stable career for an uncertain monthly income, because what I was leaving was not stable. The job market in Italy is so poor that many researchers are not paid at all. I was one of them. I decided that if I had to work for nothing, I would at least be happy doing something I loved.

Yes, it is difficult. I never know whether a paycheck is coming. But I like it far better than writing endless papers on the same topic.

What did the people around you say?

Nobody said a single discouraging word. My parents were happy that I was finally doing something that made me fully happy. My sister started firing ideas at me, and my cousin and friends taught me the basics of SEO and blogging.

Now I travel, write about travelling, and do not make much money from it. Whatever I do make goes to me, and it is there because of me.

Is there a line you keep coming back to?

Mark Twain, in The Innocents Abroad: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

It reflects who I am — a former human rights lawyer who believes that conscious travel can open minds and encourage peace.

What would you say to someone dreaming of a change?

Just do it. It is never too late to look for happiness.

And the travel memory you would keep above the rest?

One night in Istanbul. I had been there for a conference and had added a couple of days to enjoy the city. I was walking back to my hostel near Taksim Square when, in a tiny alley, I saw a backpacker struggling with an enormous map and clearly lost. I asked whether he needed help. He was looking for his hostel, which turned out to be mine, so we walked back together. His name was Julien, and his dorm was directly opposite mine.

The next day he knocked to say he was going out to wander, and I went with him. In the twelve hours that followed we saw every side of Istanbul: the spice market, the shisha bars of Sultanahmet, the view from the Galata Tower, a glass of rakı, a wedding celebration we somehow joined near Istiklal Avenue, and a drink with a group of strangers whose music we followed into what turned out to be the gay part of town. I did not sleep before my flight back to Italy. I landed with a terrible headache and the best time I had had in years, plus a new friend.

You can follow Claudia's travels at My Adventures Across the World, or connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

If travel has changed your life, inspired you or given you a memory worth keeping, you are welcome to contribute to Travellers' Tales. Send your post to [email protected].