Discovering Florence, Itay, on my own terms

Earlier this year, I spent a week traveling in and around Florence, Italy. The trip came about rather unexpectedly, as good ideas often do, and I came away from it feeling like a new person.

Upon my return back home, when friends and family asked how my trip went, my reply included phrases like “best time”, “definitely one of the top three of my life”, ” mind blowing”, “so much fun”. My responses left my audience a bit stumped because:

1. I had traveled alone. Afterall, travel is about discovery, adventure, and relaxing – all of which are more fun when with company; not alone.
2. I had allowed myself a shoe-string budget and traveled like when I was a broke college student. No kidding. Again, my audience was not convienced that cheap equalled a good time when one has reached a certain age in life, which I clearly have.
3. I had completely ignored social media when making my itinerary of what to see and do. I used travel guides from the library whenever I needed assistance.

All of this worked in my favor because:

1. I LOVE traveling with my family of four young children and a travel-loving husband. However, this means always juggling ever changing variables, and likes and dislikes that keep me from doing exactly what I please (and sometimes exactly-what-I-please is nice to have). So clearly being alone fixed that. However, this is Europe – the land of bistro tables, free flowing wine, espressos, and conversations – being lonely and quiet is not mine or most people’s idea of a good time. To fix this, I had made sure to schedul a couple of food/walking tours. Also, I had decided to swap a hotel room for a shared all-female dormitory in a hostel. Clearly a gamble, but I knew from my past college travel days, that there is no better place to meet chatty, fun, and creative people than at a hostel. In my case, my female roommates were either students studying abroad, young professionals taking a few months break from work, travelors of all ages visiting family/friends. My roommates were NOT your party-crazy, loud, and inconsiderate people (which, honestly is something I have never encountered before either in my 20s; it must only happen in the movies then; or that the party-crazy is not something they bring back to the room). I not only found friends in these strangers who met up with me for drinks and meals, but they also were eager to talk when I got back “home” to my room to ask how my day had went; if I had found an exciting spot they should check-out too. My bed was always comfortable. Being a light sleeper was a non issue. Also, those tours I booked? Well, they also lead to connections that provided company for a libation or two afterwards. All this to say, I was alone only when I wanted to be (like when visiting museums and monuments).

2. A shoe-string budget was a self inflicted challange. I had gotten a bit drained from chasing the next fancy thing when traveling and I wondered if any of it was necessary. I wanted to feel carefree and stressfree like I did when I traveled in my 20s. When just the thought of being on an adventure was enough to get the blood flowing (not the hotel lobby or the michelin starred restaurant). I simply didn’t care this time. My hostel bill for all 7 nights were less than $200 total. I traveled between Milan-Bologna-Florence by trains which added another $60. I researched museum passes and my total for those was another $50ish. My tours added another $200. Food and shopping topped off at $350. My airline ticket, purchased from Delta using some existing travel credits (that I needed to use up before they expired), resulted in spending and additional $147 to secure a basic economy rount-trip ticket from Raleigh to Milan. A week for roughly $1000 including airline ticket, room and board, food and drinks, sight-seeing, and lots of shopping (So much so that I had to buy another bag to bring it all back). Never did I feel deprieved or as if I had to expercise restraint. Now all I want to do is travel like this again and again.

3. Oh boy! Where do I being with this one? Social Media is a beast that is so so hard to avoid. As soon as I had booked my airplane ticket and hostel on my laptop, my phone automatically started showing me all types of Florence content in my social feeds. I was so sick of all the ads showing the Duomo from the hotel window, or some wine window, or the top places to eat. I didn’t wanted to make this trip about chasing someone else’s expectations. I did not care to see things just because it is what one does when in Florence. I was strictly and unapologetically chasing my own thrill of wandering around discovering something on my own. And it worked beautifully. I found the loveliest of shops, restaurants, bars, bookstores – ALL ON MY OWN BY JUST WALKING AROUND. That’s the beauty of Europe in general, but especially of Florence which is so tiny to begin with. The museums I visited included the Uffizi (which I found crowded and a bit boring; I wish I had skipped), the Accademia (which is very very lovely; David is the attraction, but I also found the room full of busts my absolute favorite). The Boboli Gardens and Pallazzo Pitti (both so lovely). I visited a couple of bistros enough that they knew me by the end of the trip and refused a credit card payment for a full amount on the last bill because I was out of cash Euros. Additionally, after seeing the wine window footage so many times, I had made it a point to absolutely NOT go near it. A hole in the wall where someone pushes out a glass of wine is only made “mind-blowing” because of instagram. No Florentien would probably be caught dead in that mad line to get their glass of wine. Alas, this one didn’t turn out so well for me, because one of my food tours did involve the damned wine window and I had to suck it up and take a picture when the nice guide-lady asked.

In the opening of this post, I wrote that I came back feeling like a new person. I usually do feel like a “new person” after any fun travel trip, but the phrase has a new meaning after a trip that revolved completely around me. Not only because I got to do what I wanted the WHOLE TIME, but also because I had only me to rely on. My husband who is an excellent navigator and restaurant scouter, would inevitably do all the work because I was too slow to process that information or too indecisive in making a choice. But without him to rely on, I had to dig deep and make those choices for myself. And I did. I found that I didn’t need to pull out my google maps all the time because I caught on to the general directions pretty quickly (something that doesn’t happen when he is around). I realized that I didn’t mind reading a few menus before making the final choice. I felt relaxed. Failing (by not securing a family-friendly choice) meant no real harm because it was just me at the end of the day and not 4 children who had been let down by someone or something. Oh and the sleep. I slept by 9p almost every night and never scheduled a single activity before 10am the next morning. Oh also to the absence of whinning of any kind. It was a wonderful reset for sure and and a lovely way to rediscover what makes me, me.

Some may read this post and say – but where is the meat of the matter – what did you do? Where did you go? How did you do it? I won’t leave you handing and promise to deliver that to you soon.

Till then, Ciao! Talk to you soon.