Revenge Travel!
I have been traveling to Italy for over 20 years and almost every time has been with a family member. Many of the times included my maternal grandmother, Mary or “Gubby” as we fondly referred to her. The last time she was able to go was in 2013 for my wedding in Florence. She was 92. That was also the last time I had been there. Starting a family and new businesses took all of our time, money and energy. We did dream, that one day we could all go again, reliving the fond memories we shared so many times over the years.
Ambitiously, we planned a trip for summer of 2020 with a then 4 and 2 year old! I think we all know how that turned out. Post Covid, we kept asking when or if it all of Italy would open back up. We checked on relatives and business associates during those tough times to see how it was all going. It wasn’t easy. At times they weren’t allowed to be outside, unless they had a dog to walk. Italian dogs were the best exercised during Covid!
As we all found our way out of the pandemic, thoughts of the world being the same was hard to imagine. Getting back to Italy was even harder to imagine. We had travel credits to burn from the initial trip, but as time kept moving they were expiring. Once we discovered Italy was going to open completely back up without restrictions, we set our sights on trying to get back. The plan was for the summer of 2023; our 10 year wedding anniversary. Life had also changed. 3 years had passed and the original crew who was set to go couldn’t all make it. With a couple of big family weddings this fall, it made it hard for some to travel.
Our kids are now 5 and 7, much more self sufficient but not travel ready. We took a quick trip to Chicago last summer to help them try to understand an airport and air-travel in all of its chaos.
This trip was planned for 3 weeks. My parents, cousin and niece were all traveling with us. Two sets of aunts and uncles were meeting us there. I handled all travel details from A to Z and my wife took care of the kids packing situation and other preparations. Being a teacher of elementary kids, she pulled out her organizational lists and mastered outfits and snacks like a well orchestrated opera. We aren’t too big on screen time for them (1hr per day), but an 8hr flight is an exception, so the kids were excited about unlimited screen time, both on iPads and airplane TVs.
The travel details were laid out: 8 cities, 6 flights, 12 vans, 6 trains, numerous taxis and plenty of walking was ahead. So was a travel strike for all union travel workers in Italy, scheduled for the day we were to arrive.
The first flight from Cleveland to Newark was bumpy on a few accounts. Our oldest (Salvatore) was nervous, asking for a puke bag…flying into Newark is usually bumpy as crosswinds from Manhattan and New Jersey make for interesting approaches into EWR. I had the pleasure of sitting between both kids, trying to keep it together for all of us…thinking it was going to be a long trip. I was wagering cash in return for not puking. I was out of $200 by the time we arrived in Milan, money well spent for a dry puke bag.
Overall the kids adapted very nicely to all of the little weird nuances of traveling. Probably even more so than the adults. It was a new experience that made them even more curious. Our goal was to let them see how big the world really is and to help them grow up being good citizens of the world!
Revenge travel was on plenty of tourists mind, as Europe was seeing a boom in tourism from all fronts. We encountered way too many people in Cinque Terre and long lines to popular tourists spots like Florence’s Duomo and The Vatican. All while embracing record heat as we trenched along cobble stone roads. However, we conquered our goal of getting back to the “motherland”, seeing family, celebrating anniversaries and so much more. We were blessed to be able to do it and make memories with those we love!
Ciao for now!