My spring in Italy

As many of you know, I spent some time in Italy this spring. Since my time there last summer, I was dying to go back (I always am but you probably already guessed that). I thought I’d write a recap because, as I mentioned in my last post, I like to record my life. This post will give me a fresh start as I’m returning to blogging, and give you a window into what I’ve been up to.

The back story 

Last summer, I had the opportunity to spend a few months in Italy. My plans changed and I ended up staying in Rome for the whole summer, plus traveling a lot throughout Italy with my friends. It was truly the most amazing summer of my life, and I feel so grateful for all the people that helped me make it happen. 

My job at the time was returning to the office after the summer, but I was so lucky that while we were still fully remote, my boss didn’t mind if I was in a different time zone. I was working as a content writer for a small SEO agency, and truly my day-to-day was just writing so it was very easy to adjust to a different time zone with a super flexible schedule like that. I only had a couple meetings a week that weren’t hard to attend. 

Fast forward to the fall, I was really disliking having to be back in the office a few days a week. I think part of the reason is because I really don’t fit the vibe of working in an office in Minneapolis where there’s free beer in the fridge but also because as a writer, my job is pretty much just me sitting in silence. I liked my coworkers a lot and it was nice to be social but I also found myself spending so much more money on days I went into the office and just general disliking having to do that, even if I was productive while I was there. 

I will also say that I was being grossly underpaid, and would come to find out I was making a lot less annually than the other writers. So, when I walked into a 1:1 meeting with my boss one weekend in late October ready to ask for a raise, I was shocked to find out me and the other writers were all being laid off. They had decided to outsource all of their writing and restructure the agency, leaving five of us out of a job extremely unexpectedly. 

I think I was in too much shock to really process it as I was in that meeting, but when I drove away I felt relief. Now I could find a fully remote job where I made more money and had more time to write—instead of pumping out a ridiculous amount of content each day. Sure I was bummed, it kind of sucks to job search (I know from experience) not to mention lose your source of income right as you’re about to sign a lease on an apartment and move out of your parents house after ~2 years. Thankfully, I had been casually looking leading up to that, so I already had a little head start on job searching. 

Overall I was actually excited to find a new opportunity and really live the fully remote digital nomad life I had gotten a taste of over the summer.

Less than a month later, I was signing a contract for my new job—one that quite literally checks all the boxes of what I was looking for and has turned out to be incredible. I’ve never been excited professionally until I started this job, and I am grateful every day for it. Shortly after, my sister and I signed the lease on our new apartment (the same one was still available that we had almost signed on in October). By the New Year we were moving in and I was settling into the new job. 2022 started off well. 

Once I got my footing, I asked my new boss about going to Italy for a month or two in the spring. Her response confirmed that I was in exactly the right place. Not only was she excited for me to go, but she said she was expecting me to ask her to go back to Italy since I’d done it before. It felt amazing to have that kind of support, especially in a new role with a new company. When I tell you how happy I am to have found this job—like I don’t even know where to begin!

Since last summer, I had been hoping to return to Italy in March so I could be there for my birthday. I ended up going from the end of February until the beginning of April, and actually even changed my flight to stay a little longer. 

Before that, I traveled to Chicago in January and Charleston and Savannah in February with friends. It felt so good to be traveling again, be in new environments, and have things to look forward to! When I left for Italy, it was a little stressful since I still needed a negative covid test to get in. But thankfully, my vaccine pulled through and I boarded my flight covid-free. 

Living in Italy (again)

Landing in Rome is an indescribable feeling. The amount of joy and happiness and ease I feel to be back in Europe is palpable. I was just so happy to be back, after six months away. And to be honest, this life of going back and forth more frequently is so exciting! It comes with its own tolls, but to think that in December 2019 I came back from au pairing and then physically couldn’t get back to Italy for over a year is crazy. 

I think we all have these moments coming out of the pandemic—the things we went through have created extreme gratitude for anything and everything as we return back to life. It’s emotional to think about still. 

This time coming to Italy was different for me, too, even from the last summer. I had a different job, I was living on my own, and I was more independent than I ever have been before as an adult. Instead of staying with friends or my former host family, I got my own place. I traveled more too! Overall it felt really good to do this on my own and create this life I’ve only dreamed about before.

I ended up moving around a bit more than I thought I would, but I won’t get into that too much. It gave me the opportunity to actually try out different neighborhoods in Rome (and some Airbnbs that I can now recommend to my Italy travel planning clients). Through it all I realized that my favorite, favorite zone is still the one my former host family lives in. For a week I took a room with a balcony there and was just so happy to be able to run in my park and buy Sicilian oranges from my fruit guy. It’s the little things, right?

Speaking of my host family, I got to see them a lot while I was in Rome, which makes me so happy! They’ve been such an incredible support every time I come to Rome and are always so generous. I cherish dinners at their place and the conversations we have, and am so glad we’ve kept our relationship over the years. The kids are growing and it’s so fun to watch them become more mature and see them develop! It’s so rare to find these places where you feel at home, across the world from where you were born, but they make me feel at home. 

So, what else did I do during my spring in Italy? Besides working (which was great, I actually prefer my schedule there!), I traveled a bit and just enjoyed seeing friends and living la vita Romana. I love just being in giro all day—working from a coffee shop then doing some shopping, grabbing lunch then logging back on for meetings, seeing a friend for aperitivo then having dinner and maybe strolling by moonlight. Life in Rome is pure magic, even on an average Tuesday. 

My birthday 

One highlight was definitely celebrating my birthday—I took the day off work and planned my perfect day, which meant coffee at Sant’Eustachio, yoga at Zem, and lunch by the sea with one of my best friends. Even better, she picked me up on her moped to drive to the train station (there’s nothing I love more than commuting around Rome on the back of a moto). 

We had lunch in one of my favorite seaside towns near Rome, Santa Marinella, at a beautiful restaurant a few friends had recommended. That was really all I wanted for my birthday—lunch by the sea. And in Rome, it’s more than possible (I love its proximity to the sea). What a beautiful day! Then we returned to the city, I made it to Ash Wednesday mass then took an outdoor table at my favorite restaurant in Trastevere (Mimi e Coco) for dinner and journaling.

The night before I had grabbed a negroni in the cutest spot in Monti with my friend and her boyfriend, to countdown until midnight. Then the weekend following my birthday I met my friend Jenn for a day in the real Rome. We went to the mall (I’d never been to an Italian mall before) then got tattoos at a studio one of her friends had recommended. I finally got the tattoo I’ve been waiting to get in Rome for forever! Then later that night I went to the club with friends and it was like 2019 again. Literally, moments I had been WAITING FOR. 

The Netherlands 

Another real highlight was the trip we took to the Netherlands. Going to Holland had been on my list—one of my best friends is going to university there—and it ended up being one of the most fun weekends ever with friends. I told myself I’d go at least once before she graduated, and so to be able to go so soon was amazing and something I didn’t expect! 

I flew out of Rome with my friend, her boyfriend, and her other friend, and we met my friend who is studying in Belgium and then my best friend later that night (we filmed a reunion video, per tradition). We also visited other friends during the trip which was so great. How do I have so many friends across the globe? It’s something that amazes me so much and fills my heart with happiness when we can spend time together.

We spent the first day exploring Amsterdam after our early flight, then went to Den Haag where we were staying at my friend’s former host family’s Airbnb, which is connected to their house (why are host families seriously the best!?). Throughout the next days we took the train to Delft, Utrecht, Zaandijk, and back to Amsterdam. I made zero plans for the weekend and just followed my friends around! It was truly the best and I left with so many beautiful and fun memories with my friends.

Life in Rome 

Like I said before, life in Rome is just its own brand of magic. I enjoyed going back to all of my favorite places and discovering new ones. 

There’s a bar that I’ve wanted to go to since 2019, which was being renovated last summer, and it became my new PLACE with my friends. The people who work there actually were at another favorite spot we frequented, so we already knew them. Once we discovered the place, we went at least once a week for aperitivo or dinner and it was always the best! Located in a garden over Trastevere, it is exactly the right place to watch the sun set over the city and unwind from your day with friends. The name of it is Ombre Rosse, my secret!

I spent a lot of time, per usual, at the cafeteria at Chiostro del Bramante. It’s my preferred place to work from, I just love it so much. Spent a lot of time wandering around by myself, too (not so many people traveling through Rome that time of year). My best friend came for a weekend from the Netherlands to celebrate her birthday, so that was fun to be together in Rome again for the first time since 2019 and see her boyfriend! Spending two weekends together within a month is rare for us, so I cherished it.

With covid restrictions still in place but a little less severe, my friends and I were able to go out to the club—something we hadn’t been able to do properly since I was there in 2019. It was really the best, going out dancing is one of my favorite things to do in Italy and the nightlife is just so different there (so great).

Florence (always)

Every single time I’m in Italy, I go to Florence. Never fails. It’s the first place I lived in Italy and every time I go, it’s a homecoming of sorts. Usually just two days is enough for me—I go to all my favorite places, soak in the feeling of the Renaissance city, then get back on a train to Rome just when the homesickness for it starts to hit. 

I think my favorite moment of this trip to Florence was my last night in the city, I ended up at the Enoteca down the street from my old apartment (the one on the corner in Piazza di Sant’Ambrogio, for those who know Florence). I had brought my journal and ordered a glass of Valpolicella, my favorite Italian red, and just snuggled up at a table writing about everything (in Italian!) and becoming a little brilla (tipsy) by the end of the night.

These are the moments I love about life in Europe—you’re afforded these moments to live completely in the present and you’re surrounded by other people doing the same, enjoying their friends, having brilliant conversations, reveling in the ordinary. It’s something I just can’t replicate in the states. 

Moments of clarity

In life, I sometimes have these moments of clarity where it hits me—I’m living the life I always wanted. Last summer, I had one of these moments the day I visited the Aeolian Islands off of Sicily. We were on the boat, I was reaching my hand out to feel the wind, just staring at the sea passing by and the islands in the distance feeling like I was at the end of the Earth and it just hit me—I was living the life I wanted. I was responsible for it, I was doing it. I thought, my life is SO cool. And I was inspired to chase this feeling and keep creating this life that made my chest swell with pride. 

I had a few moments like this again when I was in Italy this spring. One came when I was buying an Italian book at the Feltrinelli at Torre Argentina (my favorite—the barista in the cafe there is so nice too). I just thought to myself—here I am, living in the center of Rome, buying a book to read IN ITALIAN. I almost couldn’t believe it, it’s like I just teleported straight to what my dream life looked like.

The other moment came one of the mornings I was in the Netherlands. I had walked near the sea there to find a pharmacy and ended up having breakfast at one of the restaurants at the boardwalk there. Sometimes when you stop for a minute like this by yourself, you’re afforded these moments of clarity. Again I had the thought—I created the life I wanted. Here I was, in a foreign country, feeling absolutely at home. Feeling so comfortable in my skin. Working and supporting myself and living a life I had only dreamed about before. 

It’s true that your dreams can come true, and these moments are proof. No matter what trials come before, how much darkness you have to go through to get there, it’s worth it for these moments. For the beautiful feeling that you are living your dreams. It’s incredible.

So, what’s next?

I’m glad you asked. I’ve bought my flights and I’ll be back in Roma for the summer! Estate italiana 2022!!!! I’ll be traveling quite a bit like I did last summer—to see friends and to escape the heat and craziness that is Roma in the summer. If you’re going, prepare to sweat like you’ve never sweat before!

I’ve started to measure my life by my time in Italy. And since this blog post is a measure of my life as much as anything, here is my Italy history for those curious:

• Lived and studied in Florence for five months in 2017 
• Traveled through Venice, Florence, and Rome for four days in January 2019
• Lived in Rome for two months in summer 2021
• Lived in Rome for six weeks in spring 2022
• Living in Rome for two months in summer 2022

Of course, I’ve traveled a lot throughout Italy each time I’ve lived there. For a full look at where I’ve been, I actually have it listed on my Italy travel planning page (a new service I’m offering!). Until I leave for the summer, I will be trying to blog more because I have so many ideas, especially related to expat life and Italy. I just can’t wait to come alive again this summer.

This post felt really good to write—thank you for indulging me and bravo if you made it this far! I am getting back into writing more for myself again, and writing like this is therapeutic for me. I hope you found it interesting to get a look into my life in Italy this spring and what that experience was like. 

Until next time, CIAO! xxMaggie