Book “Nepal by Vespa” by Gianluca Pellegrinelli

It’s never too late to change your life

The idea of writing a book had been in me for more than 20 years, but then to be able to do it is something else. To write a book you have to have the right inspiration, and while you are writing it you have to feel it inside, it becomes one with you, you feel like writing it, enriching it, opening yourself 100% to the reader.

I have experienced all of these feelings. While I was away I started by writing on social media about episodes of my trip and then, as I put miles on my Vespa in the Iranian deserts or escorted by the Pakistani Police, I thought and felt the urge to do more, not just a travelogue.

Here I rewound the tape to 2018, that is, to when I began to mature the conviction that my priorities were changing-no more work, work, work, but a newfound value of time as the most important element of my life.

From there I began to ask myself how to improve myself, and a long journey of personal growth began, capitalizing on self-esteem and the potential I felt I had inside. Changing one’s life at age 50, indeed at age 58 is not easy, one must first become aware of it and then want it badly, because the problems and difficulties to make this dream a reality are really many.

Returning to the Nepal trip and the Vespa, they are a means, a tool to realize dreams and desires that originate from further afield.

Out of all this came the book NEPAL IN VESPA – IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE LIVES, reflections on our present and our future, combined with the tale of an enthralling and at times hair-raising journey.

Rounding out the work are the best 145 color photos of the trip, to give the reader the opportunity not only to imagine, but also to “see” what he or she is reading, for an even more interesting and engaging reading experience

Three outstanding prefaces

The reading of this book begins with three outstanding prefaces, three authoritative figures in their respective fields.

Pio Dal Cin calls himself first a photographer and then a writer. I met him on the occasion of my departure for the trip to Asia, he was the correspondent of The Gazette.
Immediately a connection and friendship was sparked, among the many things we have in common two are especially so:
The first is that she is an extremely optimistic person, aware of the privileges we have and that is why she lives each day of life with positivity and intensity.
The second is that Pius is as adventurous as I am, in 1980 at only 23 years of age he pioneeringly went to the United States and more specifically to Miami, where he worked as a cab driver for 10 years. Out of this experience came his book, “Taxidriver, A Veneto in Miami.” And it is precisely on these themes that he wanted to write his preface.

Riccardo Costagliola is the president of the Piaggio Foundation, which also runs the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera. His in-depth knowledge of the Piaggio world and Vespa in particular since its inception has enabled him to offer insight into the role of the Vespa in everyone’s social context. It has often been and still is for many of us an element of freedom, escapism, lightheartedness and well-being–a way if you will to dialogue and interact with others.

Mauro Calestrini is the president of the Vespa World Club, which is the top institution worldwide that groups the 600 Italian Vespa Clubs and the more than 60 national Vespa Clubs scattered around the world. Mauro highlights in his contribution the values of this form of associationism, alive and active as few are, just like in a big family where everyone is ready to offer their help and support to others.
I experienced this spirit firsthand, thanks to Mauro who put me in touch with the contact persons of the Vespa Clubs of Iran and Pakistan, people who welcomed and helped me not only in the maintenance of the Vespa, but also as a tourist in their cities. They hosted me in their homes, as one does in a big family.