When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
food / travel

Slow Travel, Cheap Travel - A Low-Cost Honeymoon To Conquer The World

Alessandro and Elisa Bocca
Alessandro and Elisa Bocca
Federico Taddia

VERONA — One honeymoon. 90,000 kilometers. 321 days. Two rules: 1) never take an airplane, and 2) never pay more than 15 euros for a meal for two.

Elisa Bocca, a 32-year-old interpreter, and Alessandro Bocca, a 37-year-old photographer, are the Italian stars of this global honeymoon. They travelled through the United States, Mexico, South America, China, Russia and Europe — 26 different countries in total — finally arriving back in Verona where they started.

“As soon as we met, we started to talk about this project,” says Elisa, “It was a dream; a lot of people thought we were completely crazy: I gave up a permanent position, and Alessandro dropped all the work he had taken on. But we weren’t happy with our lives, so we jumped in the deep end. Now we have lots of unknowns in front of us, but we are new people, positive people, and very aware that we have made a great investment.”

Both because Bocca is scared of flying, and because going slowly means you can capture every single detail of the journey, the duo chose to travel only by bus, train and boat. They recounted their adventure, day by day, on their blog www.coipiediperterra.com. Their transport requirements had a huge influence on their itinerary and their chosen destinations. “We wanted to go west to follow the spring and the summer,” says Alessandro. “We had designed our ideal route, but costs and transport timetables made us change our plans.”

The United States, for example, was not among the destinations on the top of the newlyweds' original list, but after spending night after night on the Internet searching for an Atlantic crossing, Miami emerged as the best solution. “We discovered that cruise ships sell off tickets when they have to relocate from one corner of the planet to another, with discounts of up to 80%,” recalls Alessandro. “So we crossed the Atlantic spending very little, then in Miami we bought bus tickets for 26 euros each which took us the 4,000 kilometers to the border with Mexico.”

Cargo ships and no-star hotels

To get from Chile to Hong Kong, the two globetrotters jumped on a cargo ship. Again thanks to the Internet, they found a cheap transfer on a merchant ship: 28 days sailing across the Pacific with 24 crew members.

“It was definitely not a relaxing holiday,” says Elisa. “But meeting new people and being immersed in new cultures all the time has made all our efforts worthwhile. Each time that we reached a new place we looked for somewhere to stay — sometimes with friends, or with friends of friends — but always hunting for the cheapest solutions: hostels, no-star hotels, families renting out rooms or sofa beds."

The same thing applied to buying tickets: In places like China or Asia, they could do everything online. But in South America, she recalled: "You had to check everything hundreds of times, sometimes only to find out that the bus you were waiting for would come by a week later.”

Here are some of the tallies: 47,000 photos taken, 130 places slept in, more than 2,000 hours spent on transport. Romantic, captivating and, with a few adjustments, doable for all budgets. “You need to be flexible and make a few small sacrifices, knowing that, for a year, your house will be a rucksack on your back,” says Alessandro. “We calculated an initial budget, even though we knew that it would be difficult to make a reliable estimate. But on balance, we can say that we have spent a very similar amount to how much we would have spent during a year in Italy, taking into account rent, bills, car insurance for two cars, and food costs."

And one final calculation: "It is true that we haven’t had a salary for these last 12 months, but I can assure you that as people we have gained infinitely more.”

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

eyes on the U.S.

A Foreign Eye On America's Stunning Drop In Life Expectancy

Over the past two years, the United States has lost more than two years of life expectancy, wiping out 26 years of progress. French daily Les Echos investigates the myriad of causes, which are mostly resulting in the premature deaths of young people.

Image of a person holding the national flag of the United States in front of a grave.

A person holding the national flag of the United States in front of a grave.

Hortense Goulard


On May 6, a gunman opened fire in a Texas supermarket, killing eight people, including several children, before being shot dead by police. Particularly bloody, this episode is not uncommon in the U.S.: it is the 22nd mass killing (resulting in the death of more than four people) this year.

Gun deaths are one reason why life expectancy is falling in the U.S. But it's not the only one. Last December, the American authorities confirmed that life expectancy at birth had fallen significantly in just two years: from 78.8 years in 2019, it would be just 76.1 years in 2021.

The country has thus dropped to a level not reached since 1996. This is equivalent to erasing 26 years of progress.Life expectancy has declined in other parts of the world as a result of the pandemic, but the U.S. remains the developed country with the steepest decline — and the only one where this trend has not been reversed with the advent of vaccines. Most shocking of all: this decline is linked above all to an increase in violent deaths among the youngest members of the population.

Five-year-olds living in the U.S. have a one in 25 chance of dying before their 40th birthday, according to calculations by The Financial Times. For other developed countries, including France, this rate is closer to one in 100. Meanwhile, the life expectancy of a 75-year-old American differs little from that of other OECD countries.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest