Buon Viaggio: The Journey Home

Part 3 of 3

Part 1: Florence | Part 2: Rome

By this last leg of the trip, we all felt like veteran travelers. None of us had ever taken this much time in the past to just travel and explore.

It was a luxury to be with my thoughts, to do something solely dedicated to exploration, not related to creating or producing anything. It was thrilling to just…post pictures, of course, but also a little terrifying, if I’m honest. Because so much of my identity is attached to my work and my opinions about myself are very much attached to productivity and being busy.

I recognize this as a symptom of something others grapple with, too, and I’m working on it, but if I’m not busy, I feel worthless and invisible. I feel like I’m wasting time that would be better spent creating something of value. Traveling and vacation turn out to be a great way of learning how unlearn the destructive elements of overwork.

Naples/Napoli

Stunning during the day, stunning at night.

When I posted our photos from Florence on social media, I heard from one of my favorite friends from seventh grade who, it turned out, is also living in Naples. (It was a good reminder, after a…