So, life doesn’t end up how you plan it a lot of the time. I had big plans in 2009 to hibernate and just get a whole lot of writing done. In 2010, I had a full list of blogging and media conferences to attend, a trip to Italy and Greece to plan, and it just seemed like it would work so well.
Obviously, God had other plans (for you, the universe, karma, whatever; for me, I know it was God).
I’m now trying to figure out how to speed up the writing plans just a bit to incorporate a stay in Italy and Greece this year. Yes, I bought a plane ticket to Rome last week.
There’s a group of friends that invited me to go along on their week in Italy/week driving through the Balkans/Albania/staying on Corfu (pictured above) in Greece.
At first, I was like, “No, this is the wrong timing for me.” However, the more I found out about the plans–a villa overlooking the sea in Italy, seeing Rome/Naples/Salerno and Venice, a ferry ride over to Slovenia, driving through Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and then arriving in Greece to another villa on the island of Corfu, before taking a ferry back to Italy and onto Rome to return home–well, I soon realized this was the trip I’d been waiting for.
My hubby doesn’t want to go anywhere before our cruise to Alaska this summer (it’s truly Alaska or bust for him), so I can jump in with this crowd of single pals and we can jet off. Several of the pals are writers and almost everyone (flight attendant, director of international sales at Starbucks, CPA) have been in and out of Europe countless times. It’s a great opportunity to learn how to drive and navigate over there, how to drive through seven countries in sixteen days, how to find food and cook in our own villa (one in Italy and one in Greece), and how to communicate with my miniscule Italian skills. I think I will never want to come back.
So, the writing goals are moving around and I’m speeding up some things and slowing down on other things. One of the perks of this trip is that I can get some writing assignments before I go, to pay for the trip, plus, writing assignments after I get back, to pay for the next trip!
And the icing on the cake is that I will get to see the beach where my grandfather came ashore in 1944 at Anzio Beach, which is less than 50 miles from our villa and on the way from the Rome airport.
Someday, I will bring back my entire family (my dad, mom, brother and his wife, and sisters and their families) to see it as well. For now, I’ll go, and take a video camera and try to capture as much as I can for them. For now, I’ll learn to drive, learn to navigate with a Garmin in Europe, and learn to get in and out of overeas airports with grace.
Those plans are even better than before, I say.
{ 2 comments }
I don’t know how I found you or if we know each other or if maybe you know my husband (he seems to be more ‘famous’ than I am)… But I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog and am SUPER excited for you and this trip. What an opportunity… and to visit the place where your grandfather went ashore in WW2… Wonderful, live it to the fullest (as it seems you already will) and don’t forget to ‘write’ (as I’m sure you will and do an AWESOME job of.
Hi, Robyn, yep, I knew your husband’s family (actually my brother is Nathan Toney), so yeah, your hubby is famous!
Hi to your whole fam (hubby and beautiful kids).
Thanks for your comment. I am also so excited about this trip. For one, it’s EUROPE, but just to trace the movements of a grandfather I never got to meet; it’s just exciting. They really were the greatest generation and it’s like honoring all of the sacrifice just to stop and remember, you know?
I appreciate the writing props too. (Hey, I’m a writer and will take any kudos I can get!) I’ll be sure and share a lot when I return. Now just pray that if they let me drive over there, that I don’t end up in a different country than we planned. Eeeeeeeek! Have a great day!
Comments on this entry are closed.