Member-only story
How Do You Travel When the Money Gets Tight?
Extreme day trips and the art of going back
I can’t keep writing about Rome
Even though it’s a city built of stories more than stones, and you can’t kick a pebble there without becoming part of the stream of history. The things we mutter to ourselves in our sleep are allowed to be as repetitive as a mantra, but I want to give my audience something new.
This year, it will be twenty-four years since I first went to Rome. I don’t know how many times I’ve been back; I don’t count them, any more than I count how many times I kiss my wife. Count your blessings every single day, but never count the things you love. If it’s more than none, it’s enough.
I haven’t been back there since 2018. The only time I’ve missed a flight in my life, thanks to heavy traffic, an argument at the car rental return counter, and a stubborn airline agent who wouldn’t let our cat on the flight to Canada without an unnecessary rabies shot.
Not a promising farewell to my favorite city on earth, but it takes more than that to kill love. It takes more than death, as the gravestones and graffiti and the silent tombs along the Appian Way will tell you.
