My first trip to Italy

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Travel

Two years ago, my now fiancée and I took our first trip to Italy 🇮🇹.

We spent our time exploring Tuscany and Umbria. To this day, this region is one of our favorite places in the world.

We started our trip in the walled city of Lucca, a stunning historic center 30 minutes northeast of Pisa.

The ancient streets, now filled with shops, are beautiful to walk through. Although the shopping areas were crowded, there were pockets of peace off the main streets.

We spent just one night at the Grand Universe Lucca, which was lovely (Thank you Marriott points).

The next day, we checked out of our hotel and continued our journey. Next stop? Pisa.

We only spent a few hours in Pisa.

That was plenty of time for us to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and earn an Italian traffic violation (note: the GPS may send you down roads you shouldn’t be on 😂 ).

After Pisa, we drove to Umbria and checked into our beautiful Airbnb for the next 5 days.

We built a fire and relaxed for the evening. There was plenty more of that to come.

Our Airbnb was perfectly situated for exploration. We did day trips to the well-known Tuscan cities of Arezzo, Siena, and San Gimignano. And of course, we made time for a wine tour at La Palerna and a cooking class.

We also explored some of the small Umbrian towns near our Airbnb. Towns that featured restaurants serving up some of my favorite meals to date.

It was my favorite part of the trip.

We finished up our Italian vacation with two nights in Florence.

Florence is an incredible city. There are few man-made sites I’ve seen that compare to the Duomo and the David.

However, between the Easter crowds and the study-abroad presence, the city was packed while we were there. And two nights was only enough to see the big attractions, leaving the hidden Florence yet to be discovered.

Oh well. I guess we’ll have to go back 🤗.

Weekly Write-up

My physics teacher in high school was one of the best teachers I ever had.

It wasn’t because of his intelligence or his credentials. It was his approach.

He used to tell us, “My job is to teach you how to think.”

Not WHAT to think, but HOW to think — an important distinction.

I can’t tell you much about physics today, but I never forgot that.

Travel is another teacher that has taught me how to think.

Travel offers a connection to new people, foods, cultures, environments, and perspectives.

In doing so, travel has shown me ways of being I hadn’t considered.

The only part of travel I find that tells me what to think is in the media I consume before I go.

The experience, on the other hand, makes me question how I think.

If I let it, of course.

Like any good teacher, travel won’t do the work for me.

I can’t expect to hop on a plane, check off a few landmarks, and return a changed person.

I have to connect.

Interact with the locals. Eat their food. Explore. Ask questions of the people I encounter and of myself.

There’s no one way to travel, and no two travel experiences will be the same.

Those places and people will operate the same without me as they did with me.

The best I can do is leave the place as I found it.

And in return, I hope to find something new within myself.

Content Recommendation

Become a Better Writer in 60 Minutes (Masterclass)

For those of you looking to improve your writing (reply to let me know who you are so we can grow together!), this is an awesome podcast with some simple tips on improving your writing. These guys are storytelling and copywriting masters in the business world, and they each bring a unique perspective on impactful writing.

AI Travel Art Piece of the Week

Cheers ‘til next week,

T.O.