Traveling to Italy has always been a challenge. In what summer did not pilots or air traffic controllers go on strike? Optionally or at the same time train drivers, conductors and bus drivers? So you were always dependent on yourself, which is why you stood in traffic jams from the Brenner Pass to the Adriatic Sea for hours, but felt like days, cursed all the petrol stations along the motorway that were just closed, the construction sites anyway. And threw half his coins on the asphalt in front of every toll booth when trying to pay the toll. The honking caravan Dutchman in the neck. Of all people.
But at some point you were there, in Bibione or, if you had to, hundreds of kilometers further south, in Tuscany or even in Apulia. Nerves down, sweaty, already thinking about the return trip with horror. Had an Aperol Spritz or a white wine, then another. Ordered spaghetti alle vongole. Already flirted with a dessert before the main course. Tiramisu or Profiterole? Thinking less and less about the return journey and more and more about the first day of swimming, right in the morning. Breakfast is quick in Italy. A cappuccino, a croissant, in your swimming trunks or bikini.
Italy really makes reconciliation easy. Because you can rely on the essential. The food, the sun, the beach. one thought. But now the shocking news, even if you could have guessed it: Because of course not only flight attendants, waiters and chambermaids are in short supply, as many have switched to more reliable jobs during the pandemic, in which they are not constantly faced with a sweaty, nerve-racked Tedesco . Sure, also in short supply: lifeguards.
Which is why not only airlines cancel every second connection and why you now have to wait two hours for your fritto misto in a restaurant – one before it is prepared and another before it is served. But also not into the sea. Where there is no lifeguard, there is no access to the beach. Such are the rules. At least 4000 skilled workers are missing. Can mean for bathing tourists: Thousands of kilometers driven and then vacation on balconies. Just not at home, but in the hotel “La Spiaggia”, of course with a sea view, you treat yourself to something.
So in the future it will be more important than ever: what you don’t take care of yourself won’t work. So you have to rethink the concept of working holidays: No longer primarily reading emails from the boss, nor altruistically participating in ecologically or socially valuable projects while on vacation. But quickly complete a crash course as a lifeguard and then protect your own family while bathing in the sea. And remember to chill the after-work wine in the hotel restaurant.