— Hello, this is Ivan Kuznetsov.
I’m a writer from Finnish Karelia living in Veneto and Lazio regions of northern and central Italy.
My life goal is to be free and to help others with the same.
To achieve it I use mostly words: think, write books, talk to myself and in public, silently do useful things, and try to keep my mind empty — but I don’t meditate, even after I spent a month in a Buddhist retreat in the Himalayas.
Write me to iamkunavi@gmail.com or LinkedIn.
Books
My first major book, a nature memoir-travelogue “The Overview Trail” is on the way in 2024.
As an outdoor journalist, I’m an author of two minor self-published books: an ecological travelogue “The mountain keeper. A year at the best job in the world in the Dolomites, Italy” and “I’m Arriving. How to travel, live in the world and be your true self” — the first-ever collection of interviews with famous Russian-speaking travelers.
I also participated in five literary side-projects, including “The basic meteorology for wind sports and outdoors” and an abstract for a book cover of the fellow author of a travel bestseller in Russia published by the largest editorial house Eksmo.
I took part in three creative residences: 1) Villa Sarkia of the Nuoren Voiman Liitto, the oldest literary association in Helsinki, in Sysma, Central Finland, 2016; 2) Santa Maria Residential Arts Center of the Soropila project of the Basque Cultural Institute in Hélette, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, in 2014; and 3) Dolomiti Hub, the cultural, social and work space in Fonzaso, Belluno, Italy, in 2023.
Talks
Also as a journalist, I spoke at 18 offline and live online popular and local events about my home regions, Italy and Finland, traveling in general, journalism and writing, creativity and other related topics.
The newest talk was at the Italian Week Festival‘s three-day Spring Fair in Moscow in April 2019. Other events were held at the Sport Marathon outdoors store, Tutu.ru online travel agency, Sysma town public library in Finland, Radio Russia and radio Echo of Moscow, Tvil.ru (Russian Airbnb), Ecological Forum of St. Petersburg State University, and Penza city branch of the Russian Geographical Society, among others.
In addition, I’ve done over 10 Q&A interviews for various popular media and blogs on the same topics. Read my newest interview for the blog of the publishing platform Ridero about the similarities between outdoor activities and creativity.
Other
My other writing and travel-related achievements include co-founding a Panoramica creative studio with girlfriend Irina, also a lifelong entrepreneur; 1,000+ publications, including 150+ interviews and 200+ guides to my home countries; 10 personally organized hiking excursions and tours in the Dolomites for 30 people; two educational courses for writers and a Travel Lottery game; and a masters degree in Planning and Management of Tourism Systems at the University of Bergamo (2024).
In total, I have lived in 10 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia for a periods from a month to more than a year.
I speak three languages: very good English, basic Italian and fluent Russian.