It is NOT “Eat, Pray, Love.”

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March 26, 2011

I'm going to Italy!

When I tell people my plans of touring Italy for a month on my own, I usually get one of three reactions. The first, and most comical, is a gaping expression of disbelief. The second reaction is excitement and sometimes an admission of jealousy. But the reaction I hate most is when someone says, “Oh, you’re just like ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’”

What frustrates me about that last comment is that it belittles my whole intent. This isn’t a spiritual journey, or a desire to discover myself. And it is not a copy-cat of a chick movie (which I haven’t even seen or read the book, by the way).

So why go?
I’m going on this trip for myself. There's a whole world out there and I want to see it. And yes, I do expect to learn something more about myself, and definitely more about the world. It would be a wasted trip if I returned as the same person.

So often people wait to go on big adventures. I was waiting too. Waiting to save enough money to go. Waiting for vacation time to accumulate. Waiting for a good time to actually take a month off work. Waiting for my friends to save up their vacation time off and money to be able to go with me.

I’m done waiting.

Why go now?
After working for three years as a construction engineer, my company laid me off in the fall 2009, along with a fourth of their workforce. Disinterested in finding a new job right away, I opted to go back to college for the next two years.

Suddenly all those travel planning obstacles were no longer a problem. No more scheduling around work deadlines or submitting vacation requests. And more importantly, I came to realize that I don’t really need to wait for someone else to go with me. If I want to go, I should go. Rather than being a question of, “Why?” it became a question of, “Why not?”

The summer following graduation was the perfect opportunity. I would be out of school, but not yet working. At the peak of tourist season, with uncomfortably hot weather, I am looking forward to the time of my life.

How long to plan?
My sister asked me once how long I had been planning this trip. Technically, I would say I became serious about going approximately eight months before my departure date. But in reality, I have been thinking of taking a lengthy vacation to Italy for years. I’m sure I hadn’t considered going alone, but the dedication has always been there.

Why Italy?
In 2002 I went on a student tour through Europe. It was an eye-opening experience that played a role in shaping me into an adult. France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and England were on the itinerary, but we never made it to Italy. I knew that whenever I went back to Europe, Italy was going to be on my list. It just turns out that on this adventure Italy is the list.

What’s up with this blog thing?
Keeping a travel journal is one of the best ways to preserve memories. I’ve been journaling about my travels for years. In the age of technology, we can share our journals and experiences with everyone else through the Internet. For me, these blogs will be my travel journal in electronic form, which I can share with friends and family back home (and save me from mass emails).

Re-reading some of my earlier blogs for this trip, the entries read more like stereo instructions; they need to be rewritten. It was like I was writing them for someone else. I don’t need to be like another guide book, bossy and mechanical. Nor do I want to delve into romantic literature’s whimsical metaphors and run-on sentences; I’m not a poet. My blogs will be unfiltered, the goal being to capture the subjective point of view of my experiences, with my target audience being myself. While it's great family and friends can keep track of my activities this way, the blogs are for my own benefit. No apologies.

Ready?
No! I leave in less than three months from today and I have a lot of work ahead of me yet. The big items are taken care of, such as plane tickets, hotels and my rail pass. With that foundation, I could just wing it, but that’s not really my style. The countdown is going to go really fast now.

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