Message in the bottle, left floating and carried away by the web rather than the sea.

Leaving something written, readable, a documented record of my “tours with plenty of island-diving” began to come out years ago. It seemed to me that an evidence made sense, that it sounded like a due act in the face of so much beauty and a tribute to the communities, the park agencies, the local authorities who preserved this beauty for us and made it visitable, enjoyable and, in the end, offered as a part of us.
Now, writing a journal or a booklet would not have made much sense; eventually I would have even found a publisher, but the goal of communicating to people places and journeys where sunlight, sea and harmony all meet would have been missed. There would have been no circulation, that hundred copies would have gone to die in an anonymous box.
A website or a blog on the Internet sum up perfectly to this personal promise, it also allows for some interactivity and exchange of views. And it has that immateriality that I like.  And 41 is also a fascinating prime number.
Family and work life don’t leave much free time and clear mind, but eventually, like for a space probe, the launch window opened for me.
I hope that the enthusiasm in my pages does not obscure the humility with which I have approached this work, aware that writing is highest art, deep talent but also a lot of strenuous study. Aside from some study, not so much to tell the truth, I know that I lack everything else.
When I am on an island, and almost never as a tourist, I feel that my presence there has some meaning, and I think this happens to all of us when we open ourselves to that land that honors our travel.  And that is why that I consider, at the end of the day, these my web pages dignified.
I trust that they are a modest contribution so that someone will become curious and want to “land,” and that this will happen for many.
What about all the rest of the world ?
In the Mediterranean and of course beyond, there are thousands and thousands of famous and amazing islands….. beautiful, more than beautiful, “over-the-top”,  fabulous islands with everything it takes for them to be celebrated in all the stories, websites and magazines and to serve as the backdrop or subject for unforgettable books written by legendary authors.
That is fine.  It is so.  I know.
But we grew up with these 41. They are ours. And they’re up against them all.