It’s like a case of deja vu. I’ve never visited the same country a year later (if I revisit, it’s usually years later), but I suppose there’s a first time for everything.
So, what have I been up to since I last wrote? I believe I mentioned many trips ago that I’ve been enjoying the “pre-retirement” stage of my career where I work a lot less and just take an occasional short-term contract. Several months after returning from my last trip, I decided it was time to take another 6-month contract. My last experience with a contract was perfect—it was with a fantastic company with an equally wonderful team. I was hoping for a repeat of that experience, but alas, not all contracts are made equal and the latest one proved to be a much bumpier ride for a few reasons. First, I discovered that the more time I allow to pass between contracts (18 months!), the harder it is to get used to working again. Second, the contract itself was with the youngest startup I’ve ever worked for—a company with a great team, but very little else to recommend it. In the end, the 6-month contract felt more like 16 and served as a reminder of why I came up with the “pre-retirement” idea in the first place (a person can only experience ‘career burnout’ so many times, after all). Nevertheless, the experience also taught me some valuable lessons about what I should and shouldn’t focus on in my next contract, so in that sense it was worth its weight in mental exhaustion.
That contract ended six weeks ago and, needless to say, I am now in dire need of a vacation. Speaking of which, why Italy again, you ask? Well, you may recall that my travel interests have shifted recently in the sense that I am now prioritizing time that can be spent with friends. As a result, nearly all of the trips I’ve taken since I launched pre-retirement have included friends for some part of the trip. Last year, I was in Italy primarily to spend time cycling with my with my cycling gang, after which I proceeded to explore some of Italy’s less-touristed cities. This year, I had an opportunity to spend time with my friends Jill and Don while they were visiting Trieste (the same friends I visited while in Croatia). I had such a wonderful time in Italy last year that the prospect of returning to visit them was an easy “Si, grazie!”
So, here we are again for a continuation of my Italian adventure, this time focusing on the north of Italy. I arrived in Bologna (which was much quieter than Naples, I might add), will immediately travel north to Verona to experience the city of Romeo and Juliet, then I’ll travel east to meet my friends in Muggia and Trieste, near the Slovenian border. After that, we’ll travel together for a short trip to the canal town of Treviso, after which we’ll depart and I’ll return to Bologna to explore it in more depth. It’s yet another trip focused on Italy’s less-touristed cities, something I discovered that I much prefer—Italy is just so much more charming when you can enjoy it without also enduring the heaving, sweaty masses.
Without further ado, welcome back to Italy!
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