Elisa Cornacchia, 09/05/99, from Imola (Bo), Italy
Who am I?
Ciao a tutte e a tutti! Welcome to my travel blog, @wander_girl_travel on Instagram! My name is Elisa, and I am a 26-year-old Italian girl who loves exploring the world in every part and shade of it.
Since I was a little girl, my mum brought me with her on many incredible trips around the world, from Egypt to China, from Mexico to Namibia, from India to Alaska… I’m incredibly lucky and grateful for having had this great opportunity, which opened my horizons and eyes and started my wanderlust.
Since my youth, I have kept traveling, studying, and volunteering both far away and nearer to where I live, in Europe and in my beautiful Italy. But the real explosion in my travels happened when I graduated with my Master’s Degree at the University of Bologna in Foreign Languages and Comparative Literatures in September 2023: since then, I’ve been traveling full-time as a true backpacker.
I first decided to take a gap year to travel to Brazil and Costa Rica for 3 months and find out what career I wanted to pursue, and I ended up progressively discovering this nomadic, adventurous way of living and traveling, and now I can’t go back to an ordinary and sedentary life! Vedevo le vette, i laghi e i colori – E dopo la laurea?
I decided to set off with a one-way ticket only, and that day, a new chapter of my (now nomadic) life began!
First, I spent 2 months in Brazil working in the NGO Prossica in Fortaleza Volontariato in una Ong in Brasile: la mia esperienza to help the children and teenagers of the nearby favelas, then, I backpacked across Costa Rica and I even volunteered in a nudist jungle hostel, Bolita, My workaway experience in the tropical jungle of Costa Rica in the tropical forest of Corcovado, I then went to France, Italy and the Maldives for a couple of months and then I started my biggest life and travel adventure: I backpacked through 10 countries in Asia for 9 full months! My 9 months of backpacking in Asia
I’ve spent 9 months traveling in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Oman, India again, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates… then I went back to Italy and traveled for some time in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. I went to Guatemala and Belize for the Christmas vacations, and then I volunteered in a kindergarten school for one month in the beautiful Zanzibar, Tanzania… Il mio mese a Zanzibar
Then, in March and April 2025, I backpacked in Europe, in Malta, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Slovakia, and Austria, and then, in May 2025, I decided to restart backpacking full-time and without a time limit in Latin America.
So here I am now, living in Bolivia while volunteering in an association that helps local women victims of violence to find their emotional and economic independence through empowerment, cooking classes, and much more.
I started my Latin American new journey with one and a half months in Panama, another one and a half in Costa Rica again, one month back to Brazil, and 10 days in Paraguay Backpacking Paraguay: 10 Days from Asunción to Missions and Riversides. I have been working in hostels, guesthouses, snorkeling tour companies, hiking, meeting people from all over the world, swimming amongst tropical fish, spotting sloths and tucans on the trees, and picking ripe mangos from the ground.
So far, I have visited 65 countries, and I’m really not about to stop!
I mostly visited Europe and Asia, but also Africa and America:
Europe: Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, France, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Malta, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Iceland
Asia: Turkey, Jordan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, South Korea, Indonesia, Oman, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates
Africa: Morocco, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania
America: United States of America (Florida and Alaska), Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, Panama, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia
I graduated in Lingue e Letterature Straniere at the University of Bologna in French and Spanish and got a Master’s in Letterature Moderne, Comparate e Postcoloniali. For 5 years I used to work as a journalist, specialized in cultural topics (I interviewed artists, musicians, dancers, writers…), for a local newspaper Il Nuovo Diario Messaggero with more than 10000 subscribers.
I read a lot of books (I counted that I’ve read around 200 books only in the last 4 years!), especially the big literature classics, but also essays. I love writing, drawing, and painting, learning new languages (I can speak 5 now, can you guess which ones? Okay, I’ll tell you… Italian, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese), practicing yoga, having walks in the nature, swimming in the sea, baking cakes and playing with animals (I have 7 cats!), going to the cinema, visiting museums and art galleries, playing chess, eating delicious local food, meeting people from all over the world, adventuring, trying new experiences and living to the fullest! Ready for all of the next adventures around the world! 🙂
My goal is to visit all countries, so that’s why when I finished University, I decided to explore the world, live new experiences, apply for different jobs, learn new skills, expand my knowledge, and, in the meantime, share my experiences with you!
I lived/studied/volunteered/worked abroad many times:
–England: for 6 years, I went to a language school every summer to learn English, and I lived with host families or in college for 3/4 weeks each time
–Ireland: 3 months as an au pair girl taking care of the 3 children, the cats, and the house of my host family in the countryside of Bray, 2018
–India: 2 months of volunteering. I lived with a host family and worked as an English teacher in the family’s primary school, Mary’s School, in the small village of Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, in 2019
–France: 8 months of Erasmus in Aix-en-Provence, 2019/2020
–Scotland: 3 months of Erasmus in Glasgow, 2022/2023
–Brazil: end of 2023, hosted by Brazilian families for two months working as a social media manager in the ONG Prossica that helps the kids and adolescents of the favelas of Fortaleza. I went there as a volunteer for the International Volunteer Association AIESEC
–Costa Rica: my first Workaway experience, 2 weeks in December 2023, I worked in a naked hostel in the tropical Corcovado forest, and it was just amazing to live in full contact with nature and animals, have the opportunity to meet everyday people from all over the world, and collaborate with the other volunteers to keep the hostel running great!
–Sri Lanka: volunteer experience in a Buddhist monastery in the rural area near the sacred city of Anuradhapura.
–Malaysia: I worked as a social media manager for 3 weeks in Nomad Adventure Camp in the forest near Gopeng
–South Korea: receptionist and housekeeper in the social hostel Time Traveler Relax in Seoul for 3 weeks
–Zanzibar: volunteer in the school Amici di Zanzibar e del Mondo with children from 2 to 5 for one month
-Panama: volunteer in the Bodhi hostel & lounge en el Valle de Antón for 2 weeks organising activities for the guests, like hikes, games, movie nights
-Panama: volunteer for 2 weeks at Discover Coiba Panama, as a translator from Spanish to English of the guide during the snorkeling tours to Coiba National Park, and as a painter for the company
-Panama: volunteer in the reception for 2 weeks in the guesthouse La Lune Topaz in Boquete
-Costa Rica: volunteer as a receptionist at El Clan Hostel in Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast for one month
-Bolivia: one month of volunteering in Cochabamba at the Asociación Adelante Mujer, which creates events, cooking classes, and empowerment classes for local women victims of violence. My tasks were to keep the association clean and tidy, help and participate during the events, play with the kids, and create connections with the warmis, the local women
Plus, I worked as a babysitter and language teacher for several months, but without continuity, in the past years, in my hometown, Imola. I also have some experience as a travel guide and kindergarten teacher.
In the future, I would love to become a journalist and a writer.
I don’t smoke, use drugs, or drink alcohol. I prefer eating vegetarian, but don’t say no to fish or meat sometimes if it’s good quality food. I am very calm, responsible, sweet, honest, curious, creative, flexible, intelligent, determined, and polite. I’m really the kind of person you can rely on.
I do collaborations as a model and blogger to promote places, organisations, and other things… For example, in Brazil, I’ve done shoots to promote a boat tour company, and in Costa Rica, to promote a brand-new forest lodge!
I hope you’ll enjoy my travel blog and adventure reports and find inspiration to make traveling your way of life! 🥰🏞️🌄
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― St. Augustine
Some of my past experiences?
At the end of February 2025, I set off to Asia with only a one-way ticket to Sri Lanka: my backpacking adventure in Asia officially began!
In January and February 2025, I traveled to France again and went to the earthly paradise of the Maldives.
In September 2023, I started my gap year (now 2 years), traveling the world! In October and November 2023, I volunteered in Fortaleza, Brazil, for one and a half months, living with a local family and working as a social media manager in an NGO that helps the kids and the teenagers of the favelas. I then spent two weeks in the fabulous Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro with some Brazilian friends before flying to Costa Rica, where I worked in a hostel in the forest for two weeks (in very close contact with poisonous snakes, frogs, and spiders!), and I traveled through the beautiful Pacific coast backpacking!
Since the beginning of 2023, after the end of my Erasmus in Scotland, I traveled in Egypt, I went to Vietnam and Cambodia, returned to Serbia, spent one month traveling around Japan, visited England again, and explored a lot of beautiful places in Tuscany, Sicily, Veneto, Lombardia, and Sardinia…
In 2022, I went to Montenegro and Bosnia again, I explored Morocco, I had the craziest experience ever with 35 days between Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, and in September, I left for my second Erasmus in Scotland.
During summer 2021, I deeply explored the beautiful Ravenna during 2 weeks of stay at my dad’s second house, then I discovered the comics world at the Rimini Comics, I visited Portugal for the first time, and I organized an unforgettable 20-day road tour from Italy to Slovenia, to Bosnia and Croatia!
Due to the impossibility of going abroad in 2020, I had the opportunity to discover my beautiful country during many short and longer trips. During that summer, I spent the whole month of August visiting Marche, Campania, Puglia, and Basilicata, and since November, I spent most of my time in Tuscany. I discovered many impressive places in this region, from Lucca (also during the Lucca Comics) to Pontremoli, from Buggiano to Orsigna (the city where the great writer Tiziano Terzani lived), and then Firenze, Siena, Pisa, Volterra, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni…
From September 2019 to March 2020, I lived in Aix-en-Provence, France, to accomplish my second year of University as an Erasmus student. I explored the Côte d’Azur, improved my French fluency, and had my first experience living alone abroad for 8 months.
During the summer of 2019, I visited Hungary with a friend, and I volunteered for 2 months in Tindivanam, India, as an English teacher for poor children. I traveled around South India across the regions of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, discovering the culture of the locals.
In July 2019, I visited the splendid Turkey and its mosques, and I flew in the sky on a colourful hot air balloon in Cappadocia.
I spent 4 weeks in 4 different capitals of Europe: Prague, Paris, Budapest, and Berlin.
During the 3 months of summer 2017, I lived in Bray, Ireland, working as an Au Pair in a family where my duty was to take care of the house and the 3 children, and the family cat. I also frequented an English school and explored the country.
Then, going back in time, I visited Mexico, China, Thailand, Spain, France, England, Ireland, Alaska, Florida, Egypt, India (twice)…
So… are you ready to discover the world with me? ☺️✈️🗺️
