1. Where would you go?
If I was asked to pinpoint one place to be my top travel goal, I’d say sure! I would grab a globe, close my eyes, spin the globe, and put my finger down. Assuming my finger lands somewhere on land, I’d start researching what it’s like to live there, visit there and experience the culture of wherever it is. I dream of going visit France and Scotland and back to Italy. Going to the Netherlands would also be such an incredible experience. I would also love to visit Australia or all other parts of the U.S. that I’ve yet to explore. Needless to say, it’s more so I just want to go somewhere to experience something new. The feeling of wanderlust has only intensified due to the fact people couldn’t with the pandemic. Leave a comment below on where you’d love to go!
2. What’s your favorite travel memory?
One of my favorite travel memories was from studying abroad. It was my first time outside the U.S., and nothing was what I anticipated. Sure, I had seen the pictures and read the Lonely Planet travel guides, but nothing could prepare me for actually experiencing the beautiful sights I saw in person. I often look back at photos and videos from my travels and remember how free I felt. One memory remains so vivid in my mind. One look back at the photos and I am transported back to February 2020, right before the pandemic went global.
It was a weekend side trip from Florence to Malcesine. Malcesine is a small coastal commune in Italy near the Italian Alps. The Alps surrounded Lake Garda and the Air Bnb me and four of my friends stayed at was located right along the coast. After reflecting at photos from that trip I wanted to bring it to life in a short story from a scene that happened in Malcesine.
20 euros to go up the ski lift of Monte Baldo. We were told the lift took around fifteen minutes each way. At the base of the mountain, daunting and bold, the journey seemed unclear. A collection of black cords lined the ascent ahead, wide and steep. The cords of the ski lift were like telephone lines sending vibrations, messages, calls.
They looked strong but fragile in the eyes of someone who had never trusted a circular dome of metal and glass to carry her up a mountain. Anxiety melted into the snow forming as the altitude increased. The skiers didn’t bother to look out at the view, immersed in conversation.
“Are you girls going skiing?” a skier dressed in full ski suit asked with a grin to the group of jean and leather-jacket-wearing girls.
I shook my head no and placed a hand on the cold metal bar. Pressure pounded in my ears in a symphony of 1000 drums marching down a parade. The lift rocked on each side eagerly awaiting to reach the halfway point of the mountain.
One lift to go to the very top, another to go back down from where it dropped you off to take you back home, back to the warmth of a tightly made bed and fresh cocoa in a steaming mug. There was a five-minute intermission from the first and second lift, raising the anticipation to see what it was like at the top.
“Second lift is leaving now, come on or you’ll miss it! Hurry!”
I ran into the lift behind my friend Danielle, familiar with adventures of these kinds.
Malcesine, a commune off the coast of Lake Garda, shrunk into an insignificant drop of buildings swallowed by the lake and neighboring mountains. Monte Baldo was the tallest and reigned over the landscape for miles.
The view stole every thought in your brain and made its grandness the only priority. It didn’t matter what you left behind at the base of the mountain as new horizons awaited at the top.
English breakfast tea, honey, a little spoon, and a Biscoff cookie around the plate was the perfect concoction to order at the sky bar I did not know existed for skiers to rest and relax at.
I asked the barista what it was like to live in Malcesine and take that lift every day as a commute to work.
“Oh, it’s pretty boring here actually, the same view everyday anywhere you go gets old after a while. Where are you girls going next?”
The view we took 2 trains and 3 buses, one that required standing for an hour because every seat was full of Italian high schoolers, was an average day to someone else, looking for somewhere else to find an adventure.
3. What have you missed the most about traveling?
Reaching your destination is amazing and exciting. You get there after months, years or maybe just a few weeks of planning and you have the whole trip to enjoy. Maybe you’re in a group, with family, significant other, or by yourself. I miss the feeling of just arriving, everything from the location to the hotel is brand new. I also miss the anticipation right before the journey. The process of packing and planning out an itinerary always made me happy. I’m not entirely sure why, maybe it was the fact that I knew I still had the entire trip ahead of me. It always seems that life can move so slowly when you’re doing things you don’t want to be doing. Then in contrast, when you’re having a great time, the days fly by. I miss window seat flights and looking out at the ocean as the city becomes a tiny speck. I miss scoping out the hotel and admiring my temporary home from the balcony view to the mini shampoo and conditioners on the sink. What do you guys miss the most about traveling before the pandemic?
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