Two Months in Bordano | My ESC Journey in Nature and Culture

I’m 27 years old and I come from the Czech Republic.

When I applied for this two-month project, the confirmation that I had been accepted arrived on the very day I felt I needed a change. That same day, I decided to leave my job at an elementary school and start this new adventure. Before arriving, I didn’t have many expectations since it was my first international volunteering project, and I wasn’t sure whether it would meet my hopes.

This was actually the first project I came across on the ESC website, and I couldn’t have made a better choice. It perfectly combined working in nature with meeting 11 wonderful people from across Europe and trying exciting activities such as rafting, paragliding, cycling through the Italian Alps, ceramics, and cooking dishes inspired by different cultures. The project, however, was far from an easy holiday.

For the first six weeks, we worked from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., three to four days a week. Our main tasks included removing invasive plants, cleaning rivers and lakes from plastic waste, and clearing hiking trails from fallen trees — which sometimes left our clothes full of thorns! On the positive side, I learned to use various tools such as rakes, hoes, and shovels, and during the final week we helped prepare the Butterfly House for the winter season.

Although manual work is not something I usually enjoy, this experience taught me a lot about nature and teamwork. After work, we had plenty of free time to relax and connect — playing board games, hiking in the mountains, swimming or barbecuing by the lake, and exploring nearby towns together. I would highly recommend this project to anyone who enjoys outdoor activities, teamwork, and experiencing life in a small and peaceful town surrounded by nature.

Even though I still don’t know exactly what direction I want to take in life, I know that this project has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. It gave me friends from all over Europe, helped me improve my English, and gave me the confidence to keep exploring new opportunities. I had always dreamed of discovering Italy, and I honestly couldn’t be more grateful for this experience. After some time, you naturally get used to the Italian vibe — coffee from a moka pot, drinking an espresso in one minute, never ordering cappuccino after 11 a.m., pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner (combined with almost anything), picking up funny Italian words, and most importantly — the Italian attitude to life: don’t worry about things too much, the world won’t end because of it! So if you’re still hesitating whether to go — just go! Even if you end up not loving everything, you’ll never regret that you at least gave it a try.