Gap year backpacking in Italy

By OverlandT

I couldn't afford to take a full gap year, so when my best friend and I graduated we decided that we needed to treat ourselves to a girly backpacking trip around Italy instead. i suppose we could have taken a gap year if we had planned to work abroad, but to be honest we are not that organised! I say girly, because we are both rubbish at camping and don't do roughing it. But we had a basic backpacker budget, and thought we could get to see most of the Italian sights with what we had and a bit of ingenuity. Our backpacking travel itinerary included Rome, Venice, Pisa, Florence, Siena and Bologna and anywhere in between that we fancied. Finding seasonal work in Europe did cross our mind, but finding work in Italy seemed to be really hard. Most seasonal jobs are taken by Italians. Plus the fact that we didn't speak fluent Italian was a real handicap.

Travelling in Italy is not cheap. Even on a backpackers budget. Well, trains are good value actually, but most other things will cost more than you think. Especially in August. With hindsight, we hadn't really thought it through. It is probably just as well that we didn't try to organise a proper gap year as we couldn't even manage a summer trip in Europe properly! I probably will do a proper career break later in life though. But we still had a brilliant time, and got to see a lot of the major sites. Here are our hard-learned top tips:

Firstly, if you are backpacking, travel light. I can only imagine how heavy your backpack could be if you were really going on a gap year. Six weeks was bad enough! There are few things more traumatising than having to lug a backpack around a crowded city centre in sweltering heat. Honestly, the number of times I wished I hadn't bothered with more than two pairs of shoes and my hair straighteners...

Secondly, be like a scout and be prepared. Mosquito repellent, bite cream, a good sun lotion and a hat are essentials - as are plasters for when your shoes rub your feet.

Thirdly, have a purpose. It's too hot to wander around aimlessly unsure of why you came or what you want to do. If you want to visit the really popular sites, plan ahead. We gave up on the queue to get into the Uffizzi gallery in Florence. Travelling on a budget can be stressful enough without this kind of situation.

Fourthly, don't get drunk in a hot tent and fall asleep. Its like waking up in hell with the devil poking your brain with his pitchfork. Plus people in Italy don't seem to get drunk as often as us Brit backpackers, and people often gave us dirty looks when we got a bit tipsy in public.

Fifthly, don't camp rough. We tried camping rough in some sand dunes when the local campsite was full and due to rubbish planning we had nowhere else to sleep. It was then we realised that you can't put a tent up on sloping sand, and we were going to be eaten alive by ants and/or mosquitos all night. The travelling trinket salesmen on the sand dune across from us seemed to be nicely settled around their fire, but we called it a night and made a last desperate bid to get out of there. There weren't any buses running and the nearest train station was miles away so we were forced to hitch a lift. Which brings me onto...

Sixthly, don't hitch hike. It's dangerous and stupid. We did it once and got picked up by a really goodlooking bloke in a mercedes who didn't try to kill us, but probably thought we were a bit mad. Wouldn't do it again. Travel safety is really important.

And lastly - make sure you are travelling with someone you aren't going to fall out with. Raised temperatures and rucksacks make for shortened tempers.

We did end up maxing out our credit cards, getting sun burned and being the worse dressed people in Italy, but we had a brilliant time. I would recommend this for a mini-taster gap year or career break, possibly combining it with working abroad and finding some seasonal work on the way. Apparently it is easier to find seasonal work in ski resorts or in France and Spain than it is in Italy.

Gapwork gap year jobs top tip:

Italy is hard to find seasonal work in on a gap year or career break, for all the reasons the reviewer mentions. Spain is definitely a better bet, particularly in areas that are popular with British holidaymakers. You will need to get in there early though to get a decent job. Find out more about gap year jobs in Europe in our Europe pages.

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