Tips and Tricks to Make the Most of Your Trip
In 2019, a dozen American Red Crossers took the cultural plunge and traveled to Solferino, Italy to take part in the annual festivities that celebrate the largest humanitarian organization in the world! We were an unofficial self-funded delegation that took a leap of faith because we were passionate about the mission and wanted to connect with fellow humanitarians from all over the world who were equally as devoted! We gathered as much information as we could about Solferino, booked our tickets and headed into the unknown. We hope you find the tips below helpful as you plan this trip of a lifetime! You can also find some travel tips and other extremely helpful logistical and event based information through the 2019 message threads on the ARC Facebook page! *Please note there is a Global Solferino group chat on Facebook if you are NOT from the United States and are trying to connect with volunteers and staff from other countries who have attended the yearly festivities in Solferino!
If you have any questions or would like to submit a tip (even if you are not from the United States), please email Vivian Moy at the American Red Cross by clicking here!
If you have any questions or would like to submit a tip (even if you are not from the United States), please email Vivian Moy at the American Red Cross by clicking here!
Fiaccolata Tips
*Wear broken in shoes that you're not afraid to get wax drippings on! Do NOT wear new sneakers/shoes or you will surely develop blisters!
*Bring bug spray or wipes that contain DEET to ward off the gnats and mosquitoes.
*While walking through the village and countryside stop every so often to look behind you for a photo opportunity. The sight of the torches illuminating the windy road behind you is a sight to behold!
*Know your limits. The walk in 2019 took 3 and 1/2 hours at a moderate pace. The route is not always the same from year to year. There are slight inclines but nothing very steep (although in 2019 we had to walk up a hill with a 10 percent incline to reach the Piazza Castello which is one of the places where you start the walk.
*Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and then hydrate some more! The weather was hot and humid. There are no bathrooms along the walk. Hydrate and then go either before or after the walk. There are always the fields if it's an emergency!
*Bring small items to give to the children of the village as you will pass by them on the fiacolatta! Red Cross pens, pencils, tattoos or pins are examples. It will bring them such joy to receive something little from the American Red Cross.
*Bring a light jacket for the end of the walk because the weather inevitably turns cooler as you approach midnight.
*Invest in a selfie stick because when you're participating in the fiaccolata, you will appreciate its reach and will be able to take pics from a higher vantage point!
*Bring a small piece of aluminum foil that you can wrap around the bottom of your cup to help contain the wax drippings from your red candle!
Budgeting Tips
*Sometimes departing from one airport and returning to a different one can yield cheaper airfare.
*Set your airfare alert now for next June!
*Airfare is the biggest expense so think about using your credit card points to purchase airfare!
*Some neighboring agriturismos are lovely and very reasonable. In general, hotels in Italy are cheaper than America. Check booking.com or www.agriturismo.it.
*Share a rental car with fellow volunteers! In some cases, if you pick a popular hotel you can bum a ride from fellow Red Crossers!
*Share a hotel room with fellow volunteers!
*The cheapest place you can stay is in the Red Cross camp for 12 euros overnight including breakfast the next day!
*Do your homework beforehand and budget accordingly making sure you take into account unexpected expenses like international transaction fees and currency exchange fees.
Red Cross Camp Tips
*Trading is a big thing at the camp during the evening hours especially. Bring pins, patches, new or gently used AmCross tshirts, pens, pencils, tattoos, lanyards etc to trade with volunteers from all over the world! Please keep in mind you are representing the American Red Cross and in most cases, America. Be generous and give small or big AmCross items away freely without any thought of getting anything in return.
*Bring sheets, towels, flip flops if you're staying overnight at the camp. There are portable showers and toilets at the camp that are fairly clean. They don't always give out Red Cross blankets. Some people brought hanging shoe organizers to hang from the end of their bunk bed. It was great to hold shoes and clothes and towels etc....
*Don't bring anything of value that you can't afford to lose. There is no security in the tents.
*Be flexible. Staying in the camp can be like a hardship deployment at times (except you will sleep on a real bunk bed mattress not a cot)! You might run out of hot water in the showers and BRING YOUR OWN ROLL OF TOILET PAPER!!
Transportation Tips
*www.rome2rio.com is a very helpful website to get from one place to another anywhere in the world using various methods of transportation!
*It was helpful to have a rental car but be careful when visiting neighboring towns/cities. There are traffic zones in the heart of some cities whereby your rental car needs to be registered otherwise you will get a ticket in the mail weeks after you've returned from your European trip!!! Sometimes your hotel or AirBnB can register your rental car. Verona is close to Solferino and they have those traffic zones!
*The CRI offered complimentary shuttle transportation. If you have a large group, head over to the information booth in the camp to see if you can book a shuttle to head into nearby Castiglione Della Stiviere or San Martino. As a sign of appreciation, an American Red Cross patch was given to the woman in the information booth that helped arrange a shuttle. So bring some swag with you when trying to arrange something that's not on the regular shuttle schedule and understand that they only had limited logistics volunteers as drivers!
*You can fly into a neighboring airport and take a train to Desenzano del Garda where there will be CRI shuttles to the Red Cross camp!
General Tips
*If you like to travel alone fantastic! If you don't, then find a fellow Red Crosser to be your travel buddy or a good friend or family member! Don't forget about those fellow Red Crossers that you have met on deployments that are now your life long friends! Let your home chapter know about this trip so your volunteer services staff can put it in their next newsletter. The more people who know about it the better the chance of having someone to travel with that's from your own chapter!
*Bring your vest to wear. Wear a cotton vest if you have one because the plastic vest will trap body heat! It's very hot during the day! Or just wear your American Red Cross tshirts!
*Make sure there is some extra room in your suitcase for all the international swag that you bring back!
*It's hot and humid so a small handheld portable fan works wonders!
*Be flexible just like on a deployment!
*This trip is what you make it. You will be greatly rewarded if you step outside your comfort zone to approach other national societies to chat and learn from them! Share best practices. Talk about what you do for the American Red Cross. Don't be shy! Evening time in the camp around the picnic tables is the best way to meet other people....over a beer! Yes, there is alcohol in the Red Cross camp! It's the European way!!