Revisiting Rome

Reflections on my first Euro Trip and what it's taught me in the 14 years since

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Today, I’m sharing what my first tour of Europe taught me about:

• Reframing “all or nothing”

• Embracing my independence

• Laying foundations for the future

 ☕️ Read time: 3 mins (best with tea or coffee)

Source: Colosseum Rome Tickets

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I land in Italy ten days from today and I feel both excited and nostalgic.

I haven’t been to Rome since 2010, a whopping fourteen years ago—but it was the first place in Europe I ever visited.

And what I learned through how I got there is something I'll never forget.

I was a twenty-year-old university student and part-time café worker meeting three friends at the halfway point of their nine-week “Euro Trip.”

But originally, I didn’t think I could go at all.

The way I saw it was even on a backpacker budget of bunkbeds and breakfasts in grungy hostel kitchens, I couldn’t swing nine weeks away.

I told my aunt as much as I deflated on her couch.

The words she spoke next will stay with me forever:

“Why don’t you meet them?”

I perked up like a helium balloon destined for the sky.

It hadn’t occurred to me that it wasn’t an all-or-nothing proposition.

So we pulled up my friends’ itinerary and decided I would meet them in Rome.

Fast forward a month, and after touching down on Italian soil, I was hopping on a train to the capital’s city centre.

When I think back to that trip, it was both an end and a beginning.

The end of seeing things as all or nothing—and the beginning of embracing my independence.

I was as nervous as I was excited about landing in a foreign country and boarding a train by myself.

(Remember, this was before WiFi and roaming services were common and we relied on paying for computer time at hostels to assure our parents we were still alive.)

My friends waved from the platform like a finisher flag on my solo journey as my train glided into the station.

I'd made it.

But that was merely the start of a new chapter in my life.

The adventures that followed laid the foundations for a fourteen-year future that traversed the globe in ways I hadn’t yet dreamt of.

After Italy, we spent the bulk of our time in the Greek Islands—where we returned the following summer to work after meeting so many people our age.

Source: usnews

Then we went to London—a place I'd always known I wanted to live and wound up moving to four years later (you can read that story here).

Source: Conde Nast Traveller

Finally, we wrapped up with a visit to Ireland—where five years later, I toured my siblings around when they came to visit me in London.

Most people count themselves lucky to visit the Cliffs of Moher once in their lifetime. So I guess I’m doing my Irish heritage proud having been lucky enough to visit them twice already.

Source: Cliffs of Moher

One of my friends and I’s favourite anecdotes from over a decade’s worth of travel together is from the first time we visited the Cliffs.

As we were strolling through the greenest grass you’ve ever seen, navigating the winding path along Ireland’s coast, a woman ahead of us kept nervously telling her daughter—who kept straying from the path—to back up.

But the only person who ended up in danger was the dad, when he said jovially to his wife “What are you so worried about? We’ve got two spares.”

My friends and I had to stifle our laughter as the mom reacted as well as you’d imagine.

Later, when we recounted the story to my friend’s mom anticipating a laugh, she said grimly “That’s not funny.”

Alas, perhaps you had to be there?

Another favourite anecdote is from Rome. More specifically, the first time my friends and I roamed the Colosseum (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

We were taking photos on actual cameras because it was 2010 (in other words, archaic) when a guy from the group next to us called out “Sky right” and everyone in his party gazed up into the distance for a majestic shot.

It’s been fourteen years and my friends and I still call out “Sky right” and laugh when we’re assembling for a photo.

Now fast forward to this summer, and my entire family is headed to Italy for my brother's wedding.

We're making a big trip out of it, and I've been happy to take the lead on building our itinerary.

It's been a fun opportunity to combine what I've learned from my years overseas, extensive European travel, and past work experience in event planning and executive assistance into a dream vacation for my family.

One that will accommodate everyone from toddlers to seniors—which thankfully, Italy is one of the best countries for given multigenerational households are common and there's a beautiful emphasis on family gatherings.

I realize now that my aunt getting me to Rome a whopping fourteen summers ago was instrumental in my travel and overseas moves to London, Sydney, and Paris that followed.

I had a full-circle moment last Friday when it hit me that by organizing my family’s trip, I’m now playing an instrumental role in my niece’s first visit to Rome (granted she’s three and won’t remember it).

I had another full circle moment when it occurred to me that my initial Rome visit consisted of a detailed itinerary my friends and I made pre-departure. But in the years that followed, I was way more spontaneous in travelling around Europe given I did shorter trips more frequently from London and WiFi was more common.

But now, taking into account we're a much bigger group with toddlers and seniors in tow for a much longer trip, I'm back to that spreadsheet life. Thus my not-so-wild Friday night involved sending a family-wide email beginning as follows:

Most importantly, I'm keeping in mind that our trip isn't “all-or-nothing.”

So rather than overloading our itinerary as I would’ve been prone to in the past, we’re prioritizing the key things and allowing for plenty of time to relax and enjoy time together as a family.

I hope you do the same with yours.

Happy summer holidays,

Alexandra

P.S. I’m hitting ‘Pause’ on my posts for a few weeks to embody European summer vibes and the art of slow living. So arrivederci… (until August).