As 2020 comes to an end, many have learned to not take things for granted. With a new year comes the infamous New Year’s resolutions that begin the faulting journey of those trying to better themselves. 2020 has put a halt in the traveling industry for many individuals. Traveling is a great experience to connect with others, learn about cultures, try new things, educate ourselves, and see how others live their lives. For the stress that may come from scares from worldwide travel, it provides an experience like no other. In June 2019, my family and I took a trip to Europe. The destination that my parents surprised my sister and I with in December 2018 was Italy. My family’s itinerary revolved around the Italy locations of Rome and the Amalfi Coast in Sorrento. 

My dad, John McBride, stated, “There was a lot of planning that went into this trip. We had to book flights, hotels, meals, and exclusions for each city. Once that was all settled, we started our next adventure”. My family and I left our house on June 27th, 2019, beginning our vacation by driving to Newark Airport since we were traveling overseas. I remember how nervous I was to be stepping into the plane and thinking about being in the air for seven hours until reaching London for our layover. As we arrived in London, I could feel the atmospheric changes surrounding me. My anxiety was rising as we were attempting to find the bus in order to get to the next terminal. As we were approaching the security screening, my sister Kaitlyn’s backpack was randomly picked to be searched. She said, “I remember my heart dropping because I knew I didn’t bring anything I wasn’t supposed to. I thought they picked my bag because I had my straightener with me”. With this unexpected accident, we were beginning to fall late to getting to the plane that was taking us to Rome. However, we did end up making it to the gate, but we cut it close with less than ten minutes to spare. The plane ride to Rome made me feel less anxious than the prior one as I wasn’t flying over big areas of water again. After we landed in the Rome airport, we took a taxi to our hotel, and after traveling all day, my family and I crashed in our room for a few hours. We woke up at midnight and then decided to go grab a bite to eat from a restaurant down the street by the Trevi Fountain. 

The next day, my family was still a little jet lagged and winded from our travels the day prior, so we took it a bit easy and instead of going on guided tours decided to sightsee on our own. The first stop that we made was at the famous Spanish Steps, and it was a very crowded area. I really enjoyed it though, and the pictures that my family got there were some of my favorite from the trip. After that, we went window shopping in the Roman-themed shops as well as passing all of the high-end brand designers. Italian fashion was very upscale and even more expensive. Then on, my family decided that we needed to fuel our bodies and decided to go to the restaurant Alfredo’s. There, I learned that I was sitting in the very place where alfredo pasta came to be (it felt almost like I was living history). After our delicious meal, my family headed back to the hotel in preparation for another day of exhilarating experiences.

On our second full day in Rome, we decided to go tour Vatican City. I am personally a Roman Catholic, and getting to fully experience my background was an event I will never forget. Not only was it nice to fully experience my religion, but it also had very beautiful scenery. I can see why the Pope chose to live here. After our short visit to the Vatican, my dad booked our family for a guided tour of the Colosseum. I had heard many things about it before, but really did not think much of it. To me, it was just another ancient building of history that had no great significance. However, being there was a whole different story. Walking around the huge pillars, I was in awe and felt as if I was in ancient Rome watching the Olympics. As my dad was talking about facts he was learning through his audible tour through his earbuds, I unknowingly tuned him out and stared out at the field. After our long walk throughout the unroofed building, my family began to heavily sweat, so we got some pizza and went back to our hotel room. Going to bed that night, I thought about how crazy it was that this day I got to experience such an amazing part of ancient Greece in the twenty-first century.

On our third day, it was time to switch destinations in Italy. As we packed up our hotel room, my family and I took one last walk to the Trevi Fountain. According to the Roman legend, tossing a total of three coins means that you will return to Rome (1st coin), fall in love (2nd coin), and then finally marry the one you fall in love with (3rd coin). All the coins that are in the fountain are then collected every few months to help serve the poor and homeless in the city of Rome. After we made our wishes, we headed to the train station to get on an express train to take us to Napoli. From there, we took a subway “in the sky” to Sorrento. We passed the beautiful Amalfi Coast as we were traveling. When we got off the train, we walked to our hotel room. After getting settled in after a long day of traveling, we headed down for dinner. We ate at this amazing Italian restaurant called Fauno Bar. I ordered the penne pasta with red sauce – it was so good! After dinner, we walked to “the spot” to see the sunset. 

On our fourth day, it was time to explore the town of Sorrento. We did a lot of sightseeing and shopping. We got to try out different foods as well as see the culture surrounding the town. That night, we had cooking reservations with a private chef. We made a homemade Italian pasta dinner with chicken and veggies, as well as chocolate chip tiramisu.

On our fifth full day, we decided to take a boat to spend the day in Capri, Italy. On the first boat ride, we toured around the island. We then got off the boat to the main island and got on a second boat to the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto is a very popular tourist site to visit when on the island of Capri and we heard so many good reviews about it. We traveled to the Grotto by boat and then transferred into a rowboat. After that, we got dinner and headed back to Sorrento after a fun filled day. As the last few days of our vacation in Italy were winding down, it was such a great experience and opportunity to be seeing famous landmarks in our world. My mom, Megan McBride, said “It was one of the best trips we have taken as a family. I really enjoyed all the sightseeing and Italian culture”. 

With the curveballs that have come with this 2020 year, I realized how much that I really took for granted. Traveling taught me that stepping out of your comfort zone can prove for an eventful and fun journey, and after life finds its way back to normal, I will for sure take every opportunity that I can in order to do so.