25 Random facts about me to celebrate my birthday!
On Sunday it was my 25th birthday, something I can still hardly realise. So, as a way to celebrate this event, I decided to deviate from travel and lifestyle-related posts and share 25 random facts about me. Even though I wrote something about my life and why this space was born in the About Dani, it wasn’t much.
It seems like yesterday when I first left Italy to explore Australia and then the world. I am really thankful for what I’ve achieved during these years and for having got to this point. Life is always a surprise and many of our traits are in a constant change. Also, I want to come back to this post in the future and see what changed and what didn’t. Just like a small-time capsule of the persona that makes me Dani!
Anyway, let’s move on and I welcome you into my personality!
Weird and random facts about me
1. I’m not a big fan of napping or oversleeping. It’s rare that I sleep in or wake up past 9 am. If I take a nap, I end up waking up with a headache!
When I was a baby, my parents would always try anything to make me sleep in the afternoon. A few times, my dad was the one falling asleep and I would just go back to the kitchen!
2. When I was younger, I was very shy and introvert. I would never be the one starting a conversation. Thanks to travelling, Couchsurfing and Workaway, I managed to break this shield and become more confident.
3. I’m part of the group of people that eat but doesn’t gain much weight. It might be my metabolism or me being vegetarian. However, my weight hardly passes 60kg.
4. Speaking about food, I’ve been vegetarian since the age of 17. The last meaty meal I had was a bowl of ham tortellini. After that, I totally stopped eating meat and fish.
The decision was mostly based on my love for animals and Mother Nature, along with health reasons. Since we can live without eating those products while also saving the planet, then why not doing it?
5. When I started high school, my university goal was to study computer science. Then, I discovered philosophy and totally fell in love with it. I’d have debates about it with my teacher and had convinced myself to keep studying it at uni. But after only a few days into the university world, I moved on.
6. Two of my favourite singers of all time are Sia and Pink. While in Australia, I managed to see both of them live. After the concert, some older people behind me said that they enjoyed more seeing me dance and sing crazy than the concert! Florence and the Machine is also among my favourites.
7. I discovered and fell in love with Florence and the Machine after I heard the song Hunger. It totally speaks to my soul and it runs through my veins. I can listen to it over and over without getting bored.
8. Speaking of Hunger, I dealt with severe anorexia when I was 16. My weight dropped to 33kg and it was a life or death situation. I was trying to achieve the perfect body while also using it as a way to feel understood and acknowledged.
A doctor sent me to a daily clinic which I hated. However, I knew I had to play their rules to leave. Moreover, I wanted to go back to enjoying life and food. So, within 6 months of hard work and some dark times, my weight increased to around 60kg. I was free, happy and alive.
9. Up until the age of 20, my English was almost non-existent. The move to Australia really helped me work on it and now I’m forgetting Italian!
10. One Piece is my all-time favourite manga and anime. I follow it every week since my teenage years and I imagine myself in its world all the time.
11. It took me 20 years to understand and accept my sexuality. In Australia, I felt the freedom to explore it and made it myself. It’s still a work in progress but it’s now part of who myself.
12. My inner child is still very present inside my soul. I love doing silly things, thinking of having superpowers and get amazed by simple things.
13. Despite being Italian, coffee is not for me. I don’t like the taste of it and it makes my heart go crazy. Also, I’m often already energetic after I wake up!
14. Give me tea or other herbal beverages instead. No milk nor sugar but I love honey.
15. I really enjoy cooking and baking. Many times, I just start playing around in the kitchen and see what creation comes out. At times it goes very well. Other times very badly!
16. I’m a big carbs fan. From pasta, pizza or focaccia to everything in between. They are part of my DNA and blood. When possible, I tend to go with wholemeal or other complex carbs.
17. I still don’t exactly know what to do when I grow up. As a kid, there were a lot of ideas in my mind. From a tattoo artist to a singer or a photographer.
18. For a couple of years I took some singing lessons. I even competed in a local contest and won 3rd place!
19. Getting back to me being a “weird Italian”, I don’t follow soccer nor any other sport. I just can’t understand it and can’t see the excitement of it.
20. I’m a complete beach sucker. You can leave me on an island (who has an airport) with constant warm weather and I’m happy. The Cook Islands were a good test for this theory! However, while in New Zealand, I also learned to appreciate the mountain.
21. Don’t ask me about politics because you’ll lose me! It doesn’t really spark anything in me. But, I know more about Australian politics than the Italian one!
22. I try to save money and grab any deal I can. If something has a price, there’s some way to find it cheaper! However, negotiation in person is not my forte.
23. I often throw all of myself into new projects and spend lots of time at first while feeling super pumped about them.
24. At the same time though, I have the tendencies of getting bored quickly. Then, my anxiety, overthinking and social comparison try to make me feel incapable of continuing.
25. The last of these random facts about me, for now, is that I don’t drink often nor spend money on alcohol. It just makes me tired too quickly. The only time I got drunk was at my 24th birthday, in Thailand, with the hostel’s owner and other guests! One of the most memorable days of my life!
Feeling thankful for this milestone
I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a bit more through these random facts about me! It was definitely interesting for me to dive into my own personalities! Considering that I don’t always think I have interesting things to share about me.
Don’t let your age nor people define what you should or shouldn’t be doing.
Don’t lose track of your inner child and always carry them with you in your soul.
Celebrate every day you get to live on this beautiful planet because every day is a new birth.
But now it’s your turn. Feel free to write something about you in the comments. I’d love to read it.