Outfits 5 years ago Why I'm Going To Italy For A Month
In a nutshell: Why the hell not?
Last February I was sitting in a hotel room by myself in Paris watching “Call me by your Name.” Naturally, as the movie ended I was in tears crying with both happiness and sadness. I called my brother the next day and we reflected on how incredible the movie was. We both shared how much we would love to be Oliver, move to Italy for the summer to work on academic paperwork.
Okay, so maybe we wouldn’t work on academics, but we were talking about how wonderful it would be to have a summer in Italy where we could read, write, play piano and have our entire family together. At the time it was a pipe dream, but months passed by and I began to have heart to hearts with Grant about our lives and how we lived them.
Over the past several years, I have been so lucky to have traveled all over the world and nine times out of ten it was either by myself or without Grant. It was lonely and I didn’t really know how I ended up in a place that I found myself always “jet setting” around when all I really wanted was to be close to my family.
When we finally decided to “pull the goalie” last year and try to get pregnant, we opened up the dialogue about what we really wanted our lives to look like, especially with a new addition to the family. As hard as it was, I vowed to start saying “no” to some of the frivolous trips that are offered to many bloggers and start saying “yes” to vacations and trips that truly paid me in more ways than one.
It was very difficult at times, watching all of my “influencer” friends jet set around to Ibiza, Paris and island hop around the world. Imagine getting an e-mail offering to fly you {for free!} to Sydney and stay in a 5 star hotel? Sounds pretty awesome right? And it is. But it’s not awesome when it’s taking a toll on your marriage, on your friendships and leaving you feeling empty and alone.
And that isn’t not to say that I haven’t done my fair share of traveling too. I’ve definitely been traveling a LOT more than most people. But you might have noticed that over the past year we have redefined what travel looks like for me and my family.
So, when we found out we were pregnant last March, was also decided to pull the trigger on making this pipeline dream a reality. My brother and I booked a non-refundable house just outside of Florence for a month – and that month has finally come!
Non-refundable? Really? Yes, we did this so we wouldn’t back out. Life gets in the way and trust me when I say I have tried to cancel this trip – ha! There were times when the idea just became too overwhelming. Traveling for 5 weeks with a 5 month old? It’s a bit scary.
But the day has finally arrived and I couldn’t be more excited.
I have been looking forward to this trip for over a year and honestly the timing couldn’t be more perfect. We have just found our groove with June {even though I’m sure jet lag will mess that up!} and in addition to this, I’m finally working on a project that I’ve been half working on for years – my book!
Grant and I are flying out today!!! Wish us luck! And the rest of my family will start to arrive the week after we are there. I am as giddy as a school girl. I cannot wait to spend my mornings playing tennis, drinking wine and writing pages. I look so forward to sharing this time in our lives with you all and taking photos that I will cherish forever.
Ciao!
0 Comments Join the Conversation