22 years ago today – at the tender age of 24 – I boarded a plane to embark on a month-long SOLO trip through beautiful Italy.
Armed with a wheeled carry-on luggage, backpack, calling card to phone Mom frequently and let her know I was ok, 1000+ page fiction novel, guide books, Lira currency (!) and 35mm camera with lots of film, I had a reservation at a modest pensione in Rome to start the journey.
Back in 1999, my roundtrip airfare from LAX to FCO was less than $400 USD, Eurorail pass was less than $400 USD!
During my month there, I met up with friends-of-friends who toured me through the little towns outside of Rome, connected with my cousin Laura in Firenze and stayed with her former classmates in their Florentine flat, took a bus tour with architectural grad students through the streets of Verona, stayed in a seaside hotel in the Ligure area, had my breath taken away by all of Venice and hand carried 3 bottles of wine back to the States.
Most of the time, though, was spent in quiet contemplation about the future . . .
What turned out to be a trip of a lifetime, I look back with delight that 1) I actually did that, 2) how different the world is now and 3) I wouldn’t do anything different. Well, I wish I didn’t have bronchitis and walking pneumonia during the trip – THAT I would change!
I would return to Italy 5 years later with my (now) husband, making even more incredible memories while reliving the great ones of the past.
Closing the chapter on the year 2020, I look forward to what 2021 will bring: more memories, hope and amazement for what is yet to come. (And more yarn, of course).
AlohaBlu 
How amazing! I love to see through your lens the places that you visit and have been thinking of you, recently. In the last couple of weeks I’ve come across things that made me think of Hanging Hawaiian Gecko and Rainy Day Eiffel.
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Aww thank you Elizabeth! Hope you’ve been well. I was just looking through old photos and remembering those colorways. I am planning the next dye session now with hopefully a new one and and oldie-but-goodie. Sending much Aloha to you and yours!
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