Day 364 – EU – Italy [Rest Day in Piombino]

03/04/21

 Rest day in Piombino (Italy, Europe)

A day in lockdown, a small stroll around town and, well, feet up!

I realised early this morning that I would have to spend most of my day indoors. Indeed Italy has applied quite stringent measures around the Easter weekend to make sure people wouldn’t gather and reunite for festivities. As a result, the streets were fairly deserted and my host also warned me that I could only be outdoors if I had a good reason to be there, like shopping for food. I made a trip to the supermarket which thankfully passed by some great landmarks of the old town with views on the sea and the nearby island (Elba).

I estimated my stroller could wait another week to get its rivets changed and that’s a job I will keep for my next rest day in Rome. I inspected the stroller thoroughly today and I am convinced it can last the whole world run. As long as I make sure I replace the parts that need maintenance every 10,000kms or so (wheels, rivets) the rest of the frame is quite solid and resistant. The lower basket is a weak point, I have had to sew it frequently as the system that attaches it to the frame is quite poorly designed and it keeps ripping off. But yet again, that’s a minor impediment.

I am also wondering if I should make a move to hire a “community manager”. My reach on social media is very poor. My facebook publications barely get 100 likes and my Instagram posts top at 70. I am not worried about my personal exposure, but rather the exposure of the cause I run for. I have pledged to raise 1$ per km run for the NGO “Women for Women International”. I have only just raised 2,500$ so far despite having run over 12,500kms. The question of getting external help is therefore legitimate. What bothers me is that my trip is 100% self-financed and therefore, should I spend money on top of the bare-essentials…? This is a tricky question which is very much on my mind these days. People will donate only if I get the exposure, yet I don’t have the expertise nor the time to achieve it. You can’t do it all alone! That’s something I will run on for a few days…