E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle -- And then we emerged to see again the stars
WE DID IT!!
After our four month journey through the infernal circles of bureaucratic Hell, we finally emerged, like Dante, to see again the stars. In Dante's case he sees God's divine love, while we are finally seeing our new company take its place in the firmament of Tour Operators. (if you didn't see my previous post likening our journey to Dante's voyage through hell, you can see that here).
This won't be a long post because now the REAL work begins!!! Drawing up contracts! Publishing itineraries! Paying hotels! We've been begging people to be patient for so long and now finally the flood gates have been opened...
These past few weeks have been a real nail-biter, and here's just a sample of the hurdles we faced:
* we found a bank but were then told we couldn't open an account because of a problem with our signatures
* we tried another bank but were told it was in conflict with that OTHER bank
* we went back to the first bank and spent FOUR HOURS signing papers
* we got a credit card machine but were then told it doesn't work for travel agencies
* we lost a week on an insurance glitch because we didn't have the right signatures
* the final submission seemed to require we fill in a 177-page document
* and last but not least: we nearly got stopped by an online form because I don't have a FAX machine đ
I googled "la burocrazia italiana" (Italian bureaucracy) just for fun and the first titles that came up were (translated into English): "Italian bureaucracy is literally a plague," "Italy is squashed by the weight of bureaucracy," "Italy is a nightmare," and "Bureaucracy in Italy is among the worst in the world."
Obviously our journey is not over as we'll be dealing with this "nightmarish plague" for the rest of our lives, but at least STEP ONE is done!!! Three years exactly from the beginning of Covid -- when we lost our jobs and were cast into the unknown -- we are finally ready to start this next phase of our lives.
WE ARE SO EXCITED and can't wait to see you out there somewhere đ
Please check out our website and let us know if/when you'd like to join us on tour!
đˇđż WE ARE WILD SAGE đżđˇ
