Over spring break this semester, I was lucky to have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of flying to Italy with six of my friends to visit our roommate who is spending the semester abroad in Florence. I know the memories we made will last a lifetime and I am so thankful for that, but we literally did not stop moving for 7 days. While it’s easy to say that you want to “make the most of every second” while planning, keep in mind how extremely exhausting this is. After experiencing this last month, I’ve compiled some thoughts on how to have the time of your life, but also how to have enough energy to enjoy it.
I think we were so excited, and all extremely type A, that we packed an activity into every hour of the trip. We arrived in Florence on Friday afternoon, stayed there Saturday, went to the Amalfi Coast Sunday at 8 am, and returned to Florence Monday at 11 pm. We spent Tuesday in Florence, woke up at 5 am to go to Rome on Wednesday before returning at 10 pm, spent Thursday in Florence, and left at 3 am Friday to travel home. Just thinking about it is making me tired! These day trips were planned far in advance, which I would recommend in order to save money on trains and AirB&Bs, but this also filled up a good amount of our trip. I don’t think I realized how much there was to explore around Florence and it would’ve been really cool to wander around our central city and get to know it well.
Another thing I learned is to plan events far apart throughout the day. Things often take longer than expected, or you find spots along the way that you want to check out more. Even during our time in Florence, there was always a “next;” next reservation, next museum, next meeting spot, so we weren’t able to stop and smell the roses! When visiting a new country, there are going to be attractions you wander across unknowingly. There are beautiful churches and stunning architecture everywhere, and sometimes spontaneous adventures are well worth it!
If I have one tip that sticks with you, it would be to choose comfort over fashion. We did SO much walking that our feet were seriously swollen. I do not know what I would do if I wasn’t wearing comfortable shoes. The adventure in itself is tiring enough, so don’t hurt yourself more than you have to! In general, travel light and bring clothing items that can be used in multiple scenarios. I brought a pair of jeans that I knew could be used to walk around in during the day or go out at night. This saved me time and energy when we packed a backpack for short trips, and I could hop on and off trains and ferries with ease.
No matter how hard you try, there simply isn’t time to see everything — which I wish I reminded myself of going into the week. Even though Italy is a relatively small country, I seriously think you could live there for a year and still not see everything. Use your time wisely and plan fun adventures, but also remember that not being able to see everything creates a reason to take another trip back! Overall, just enjoy your time and appreciate whatever you’re doing in the moment.
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