Hi there, I’m Michele, the ‘guide’ behind The Intrepid Guide a language, culture and travel blog featuring travel tips, language hacks, travel phrase guides, and stunning photography from around the world.
I live by the motto “The more we travel, the more we learn.”
Here on The Intrepid Guide, my goal is to enrich your travels through languages by creating informative travel videos and destinations guides paired with stunning photography, but also provide you with simple yet effective language learning tools, language courses, and free travel phrase cheat sheets to help you get started in the language. Want to know more? Subscribe to my email list here.
Where it all began…
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, I’m now based in London.
My two great loves in the world are learning languages and travelling. My interest in languages started quite young when I was about 7 years old. My dad and his parents immigrated to Australia from Italy back in the 50s and whenever my dad would take me to visit my grandfather, ‘nonno’ in Italian, I remembered feeling embarrassed and frustrated that I could never understand him.
Even though my Nonno had been living in Australia for over 30 years, he couldn’t speak English. After I told my dad about my frustration, he started teaching me a few Italian words in the car on the way home.
When my nonno passed away when I was 17, something sparked inside me. I decided I wanted to start learning the language of my nonno as a way to honour him and continue this legacy. I wanted to learn his language so I could know him better.
I started modestly, using travel phrase guides and then eventually joined a group language class. But it wasn’t until my first trip overseas, (to Italy, of course) that I got serious about learning Italian. I surrounded myself with the language as much as I could. I had Italian classes three nights a week, I watched almost all the films at the Italian Film Festival each year, and I would gravitate towards Italian restaurants whenever I was out.
Once I had reached an intermediate level of Italian, I decided to go back to Italy. This time, alone. My goal was to see if I could survive and enjoy travelling by myself with my current level of Italian. Needless to stay, the trip added more fuel to my already burning desire for all things Italian and the language. With the support and encouragement of my family, three months later I handed in my resignation at work and moved to Rome.
I followed my passion for learning Italian, fuelled by my Italian heritage, and it changed my life! I’ve met so many people thanks to speaking Italian and made lifelong friends because I was able to connect with them in their native language.
Speaking Italian has enriched my travels around Italy too. I have conversations with shop assistants, waiters, and even hotel staff! That’s right! Whenever I go to check-in, the staff are surprised that a female shows up instead of a man. Sound strange? Well, in Italian, my name (Michele) is actually masculine! I was named after my nonno. It’s the Italian equivalent of ‘Michael’.
It’s strange to have to explain my life story whenever I check into a hotel, but nevertheless, I’m very proud of my roots and these little interaction reminds of my dear grandfather whom I was very close too. I feel honoured that I carry his name.
Nonno was the reason why I wanted to learn Italian. He is the reason why I started The Intrepid Guide and why you’re reading this. I want to help you discover language so that you can let it transforms your life and enrich your travels.
If you are studying Italian (or any other language for that matter) this guide gives you 11 ways to help you speed up the process. If you want a giggle but still get practical tips, here are 15 words you definitely don’t want to mispronounce, or you could end up in all sorts of trouble or go red with embarrassment. I’ve also gathered a list of certain words you should never say in Italian. Even seemingly harmless words like ‘ciao’ can be disrespectful if you don’t use it right.
You never know where learning a language will take you. It’s a wonderful ride and one that I’m still on because here I am writing to you about it!
It was the best decision I ever made. One that set me on a new path for life.
Over the past few years, I’ve studied several foreign languages, including Afrikaans, French, Arabic, and more recently Norwegian.
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Why is it called ‘The Intrepid Guide’?
Intrepid, meaning fearless and adventurous, represents me when I moved abroad and followed my dreams of living la dolce vita. I’m a ‘guide’ because when friends and family come and visit me and I show them around, I usually share fun and interesting historical facts about the place. They’re usually impressed with the amount of detail and joke that I should be a tour guide. That comment has always resonated with me because I take a lot of pleasure in sharing my knowledge with others. I want people to have a deeper understanding of the place they’re in and this is what I seek to do with my blog. Hence, why I’m called The Intrepid Guide.
The Intrepid Guide was born out of my passion for helping travellers better connect with destinations and the people in them by providing free travel phrase guides and detailed destination guides.
I incorporate the cultural and linguistic side of travel in my in-depth travel guides and itineraries. My posts are interesting, educational and as practical as possible. I encourage travellers to learn a few choice phrases and use my free travel phrase guides that have a pronunciation guide to make things even easier.
For me, it’s all about connections, culture, and conversations.
I’m not the sort of person who just posts a photo of the Colosseum on Instagram, nope, I want to learn about its roots, its history, why it’s called the Colosseum, who built it, why it’s still standing, the list of inquisitive questions is endless!
Euripides said it best:
“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves.”
The more we travel the more we learn. I share my experiences and love of travel and languages through infographics, resource guides, videos, destination tips, trip advice, and photography.
I’m a geek at heart, so I love learning and imparting that knowledge to others. I know what it’s like to be a struggling monolinguist. I want to spread hope and debunk the myth that learning a language is too difficult.
Are you new here? Wondering where to start?
Want to learn a language? Start here and don’t miss my favourite language tools.
Going on a trip? Find out how to be travel fluent and take my free travel phrase guides with you. Check out my YouTube channel for travel and language learning inspiration.
Want to learn Italian? Check out my top-selling 5-star rated book for absolute beginners which has received 5-star reviews on Amazon. Find out more about it here.
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the information in this book, and how useful it has been in making the next step to learning Italian. The chapter on “Italianising” English words is alone worth the 5 stars. I have been using free apps to this point, and they have been helpful, but the information in this book had moved me forward in my progress. I do recommend it, and would not have had I not thought it worth it. – Review on Amazon UK
Got the travel bug? Check out these Destinations and Travel Resources pages for travel advice and travel tips. If you’re planning a trip, then you can’t go past my super popular travel accessories guide for 2020.
Or maybe, you want to work with me?
Got a question about travel or languages? Ask me anything! I’d love to help.
Safe travels and happy learning!
Michele