4 Surprising Ways in Which I Profited from a Vacation in Italy

Don’t cross things off your bucket list

Me taking a picture of the Colosseum | Image by the author

Is it just my Instagram feed or is everyone obsessed with Italy? From Hasbulla walking memes to tips on where to find the best gelato, from lemon print dresses to Vespas, we all want that Dolce Far Niente.

We go to the beautiful country in the hope that all those meals, architecture, and culture will teach us the art of living. But the reality is never as we imagine and certain things may surprise you in the land in the shape of a boot.

Here are my four little revelations from the trip I returned from last week.

1) 11 days of walking did more than 8 months of gym

Rome in 2024 is pretty different from when I last saw it 11 years ago: way more people and construction fences everywhere. Turns out that COVID-19 and the panic about the Third World War made everyone buy a plane ticket and spend thousands of dollars before they die.

With masses everywhere, I’d stay away from public transport, remembering what the agent had told me when I took out the travel health insurance:

“It’s not just COVID anymore. We had people with the West Nile virus and dengue fever.”