Images via airbnb.com
First stop on my trip is Florence, Italy. This is my little airbnb I'll be staying in for a whole month! How cute is it? I mean that kitchen, that yard?! In love.
I arrive at the end of July and I'll be traveling on my own. I've never traveled this far by myself so I'm pretty nervous about it. One reason I picked Florence (besides the fact that it's beautiful and the FOOD) is because I have a friend from college who is living there right now so at least I'll have someone I know to hang out with and show me around. Another reason I picked Italy is because I'm almost 100% Italian. My mom and dad's families are both from Palermo, so I've always wanted to go back to the roots of where my ancestry began.
Another interesting things about my stay abroad is that I'll be working while I'm there which is a big reason I'm able to afford this trip and also why I'm able to stay so long. Yay for working from home! It can be pretty awesome at times. The only downside of having to work while I'm there is that I won't be super flexible to go around and travel
wherever/whenever but I'll still be so happy to just experience Firenze on a
daily basis. To stay on the same schedule as my coworkers I'll be
working in the afternoons into the late evening (there is a 7 hour time
difference) so I will have the mornings for exploring.
The first two weeks of my trip I'll be stay with a family that lives in this adorable home, but they are being so gracious as to let my mom come and stay with me for the last two weeks. I pretty much gave an open invite to anyone I'm close with to come along with me, but not many people could leave their lives for that long or circumstances just didn't work out. But I'm glad one person took the bait! It'll be nice to have my mom there to travel to other places with me. We are planning a weekend in Greece (probably Santorini) and also maybe a trip to the coast (Capri or Amalfi).
Other than that I don't really have any plans. I have my friend there and my "host family" so I trust they will give me lots of tips on places to eat, drink, shop, hang out, work, etc. Planning a trip this long on your own is a lot of work and it can be super stressful. I've had several nights in the past few weeks where I've stayed up for hours past my bedtime just thinking and thinking about all the things I need to do before I leave. But, I know it's all worth it and as long as I get the "needs" done before I go (I'll be doing a post about those soon) I'm not going to worry too much about the "wants." If I get to those, I get to them. If I don't, I don't. Not the end of the world.
Have you ever been to Italy? Florence? Let me know if you have any suggestions about things I should do while I'm there or tips you have for traveling abroad. I'll be back soon with more details!
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