Foreign Lives - The Notebook of Return

Presentation of the book Vite Forestiere - The notebook of the return

The journey that our fellow countrymen once undertook, sometimes one-way, is still made today, but in very different ways. They no longer set out with a cardboard suitcase. Often, those who leave are young, well-educated people who choose to move in search of new experiences, professional growth, and better job opportunities. Today, Friuli Venezia Giulia has become a land of immigration, while emigration flows have significantly decreased.

Those distant stories, those foreign lives, are now driving new generations to discover the places in our region from which their families left in search of a "better life." Thus, yesterday's departures are transformed into returns. A homecoming for those who have listened to the tale of a distant memory, of experiences lived and passed down through the memories recounted by grandparents, through letters and postcards kept in a drawer, through photographs found in a tin box.

Testimonies of a life lived far from one's roots, a memory to which one clings, bound by a strong feeling that leads the "roots tourist" to retrace their family's path in reverse: it's a return home. Thus, "Vite foreigniere. Il registro del ritorno" (Foreign Lives. The Return Notebook) becomes an opportunity for all those who wish to undertake a similar journey home. A notebook to carry with you, to record impressions, emotions, and encounters along the paths and roads of Friuli Venezia Giulia. 

A participatory multi-guide, the fruit of suggestions from those who live here. An open and dynamic project, it brings together more or less well-known itineraries, proposed by enthusiasts who live and describe the region with pride and love. This tool was created to accompany roots tourism, offering travelers—descendants of emigrants, the curious, and lovers of history, culture, and nature—an authentic way to rediscover the land from which our fellow countrymen set out.

 Every page is an invitation, every route a story.