Valentina Zocca

 I am Valentina Zocca, I am 32 and I am based in Italy. I have been working with stories in a professional way since I was 25: I tell stories to create a space where people can come together and share across differences; I teach storytelling to empower people to embrace and express their own stories as guidelines for action; but I look for and collect stories to understand the world and fall in love with the places I cross and inhabit.
 
When I travel, be it far or near, my interest is in understanding why myths, folktales, and culture have emerged in a specific place, and how, even in similar stories, specific elements are connected with a specific natural environment. That's why I travel slowly, often trekking, bringing with me a book of folktales instead of a travel guide and taking time to talk with people. I have trekked through Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Nepal and India, trying to immerse myself in the nature, the pace of life and the culture of these places and observing how the folklore is connected.
 
My three months in India and Nepal (where I am going to start to lead ethical and social travels) and my trekkings to the Himalayas have been really eyes-opening regarding the damage that speculation and "progress" have been doing to some of the most incredible places in the world: 5-stores hotels at 3000 mts, polluted misty skies and garbage in the rivers have shocked me and motivated me even more to raise awareness through my practice as a storyteller.
 
By sharing folktales together with the stories of my travels (and the contradictions I witness), my intent is indeed to raise awareness about the fragile balance of interdependence of the ecosystems we live in; I hope that the fascination for the beauty, the variety of environments and cultures, and the understanding that this richness is in danger, will move people towards more ethical lifestyle and choices.
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