I’m sitting on my porch in Springfield, Missouri drinking a homemade version of an Italian cappuccino as I write this, my first blog entry about traveling as an architect. What an ironic way to start a travel blog, during a pandemic with travel restrictions! Even the best laid plans don’t always go as we would like, but I think these unprecedented times give us many opportunities to dream and reflect on what it is that we really want out of this life, much like travel. When we travel we are looking to get away, to spend more time with family, to discover new things about the world and ourselves, to reset, and relax. So I’m going to help us do this from home, one story at a time, until it is safe to roam this beautiful world again.
I’ll start in Italy, one of my favorite places. I love the food, the people, the language, the landscape, and of course, the architecture. My husband and I last traveled there in the spring of 2018. We flew from Springfield to Philadelphia and were scheduled to get on a connecting flight to Rome, but bad weather delayed us through the night. At about 2:00 a.m., frazzled and tired, we finally got on a flight to Paris, landing at Charles de Gaulle airport during the French Open. Now something you may not know is that we are also avid tennis fans and we were stuck in an airport where every TV was streaming one of our favorite sporting events! Now we didn’t have time to go into Paris and see the event in person, but as we watched from the airport we made new friends, chatted about who may win, and had a great time with other tennis fans. After hours of fun tennis and French airport food (which is still some of the best food you will ever eat), it was time to board for Rome. It is probably good to note here, that I’m an anxious flyer. I’m that person you don’t want to sit by on the plane who is sweating and gripping the neighbor’s armrest with every bump, turning pale, and leaning the opposite way of the plane as it banks, with the hope of keeping the entire plane from tipping over. But while trying to calm down my nerves on this particular flight, I turned and looked out the window and there were the Italian Alps below us in all their majestic beauty. You may ask why an anxious person flies, it is because the best thing about traveling is seeing the world from 40,000 feet. When looking at the earth from above, there is nothing but peace. There are no viruses, no mass shootings, no hate, just beauty. I will share this beauty as I share little moments in this blog.
If we had not been delayed nearly a day, ruining our scheduled plans, we would not have watched the French open, made new friends, or seen the Alps from above. Is there an opportunity we can find from being delayed by COVID-19? I hope we can all find the opportunities that still exist from our front porches during this time.
Keep dreaming!
Amy
