Italian Phrase
Una volta mi sono perso facendo un'escursione.
Meaning
Literally, ‘One time I got lost while doing a hike.’ The sentence recounts a past personal experience, using the reflexive verb ‘perdersi’ to indicate losing one’s way and the gerund to link the two actions.
When to use
Use this phrase when you are sharing a story about a past adventure, especially in informal conversation or a travel diary. It works well as an ice‑breaker when talking about outdoor activities.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Unavoltamisonopersofacendoun'escursione
Una volta
Adverbial phrase of time meaning ‘once’ or ‘one time’; placed at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene.
mi sono perso
Reflexive verb in passato prossimo; the auxiliary ‘essere’ agrees with the subject, and the past participle stays masculine singular because it refers to the speaker.
facendo
Gerundio of ‘fare’; used here to express an action that was happening simultaneously with the main verb.
un'escursione
Noun ‘escursione’ (hike) preceded by the indefinite article ‘un’ with elision because the word starts with a vowel.
🗨In Conversation
Una volta mi sono perso facendo un'escursione.
One time I got lost while hiking.
Davvero? Come hai fatto a ritrovarti?
Really? How did you manage to find your way back?
✕Common Mistakes
Una volta mi sono perse facendo un'escursione.
The past participle of ‘perdersi’ must be ‘perso’ (masculine singular) when the subject is ‘io’.
Una volta mi sono perso facendo un'escursione.
If you want to stress the location rather than the simultaneous action, use ‘durante un'escursione’ instead of the gerund.
↔Alternatives
Una volta mi sono smarrito durante un'escursione.
One time I got lost during a hike.
Mi sono perso una volta mentre facevo un'escursione.
I got lost once while I was hiking.
Una volta mi sono perso in montagna durante un'escursione.
Once I got lost in the mountains during a hike.
Cultural Tip
In Italian, ‘perdersi’ (or its synonym ‘smarrirsi’) is the usual way to say you lost your way, whether in a city or on a trail. ‘Escursione’ is the common term for a day‑long hike, while ‘giro’ or ‘camminata’ can be used for shorter walks. When telling a story, Italians often start with ‘Una volta…’ to signal a personal anecdote.