My Story

A part of my journey is my very own story. There is a reason why I lived in Italy for a long time, learned the language and travelled the different regions, cause I wanted to get to know my roots, but not only that, I also wanted to find my biological father.

At the age of 19, I found out that I’m half Italian. This news came as a slap in the face, but if I’m honest, I’ve always questioned my origins. Every holiday to Italy in my youth gave me a sense of home, every trip back was an emotional battle with myself. Although I was born and grew up in Vienna, I never really arrived in my hometown on the inside. I spent most of my holidays, even in adulthood, in Italy, where I was always addressed in Italian because of my appearance.

It was only many years later that I came to terms with this issue. Why?

I thought it wasn’t relevant and that roots played a rather subordinate role.
In the course of a serious crisis in my life, however, I was confronted with the topic indirectly. When I folded up my tents in Vienna and moved to Berlin, I started learning Italian just months later. And I learned it very quickly, until one day it called to me and I decided to leave for Italy.

Thanks to some research on the internet, I was able to find the place where my biological father lived. So after a year of travelling around Italy and without many expectations, I went to Pisa. There I was informed that he had died many years ago, but had left behind a son. And so, unexpectedly, I met my (half) brother, who has been living abroad for a long time and was visiting Pisa at the time. Fate? Definitely!

It was a very touching encounter and I was able to get to know a lot about my roots and myself.

For example, why I have always felt more comfortable on islands than on the mainland. Or why I’m not a fan of football or where my ears come from. That and much more, all characteristics I inherited from my father. For many it may sound like trivialities, insignificant “coincidences”, but thanks to this encounter I understood why I am the way I am and, above all, who I am.

I have often asked myself „What if…?“ The fact that my biological father is no longer alive leaves many questions open and unanswered. But I am all the more pleased that my brother and I are still in contact. It’s true that neither of us can make up for so many years overnight…but blood is thicker than water, and looking back, I am more than happy to have taken this long journey to find myself.