We're on a road to nowhere

It's been a long life......

It's mostly self-inflicted. When your work happens to be one of your passions, you tend to put life second. And you never have time to not be working. Which is why we end up taking only a few days off every so often. Quick-fixes. The road to nowhere. Besides, I'm not always sure whether I would survive without the adrenalin provided by excessive workloads and stress. Until I get to the point where it feels like - well - like it's been a long life. That's when I know - it's time.

We've noticed a pattern. It seems to take 3 years.But it also feels like the number of curve-balls life seems to hurl at you, seems to be increasing in these 3year stints. And so it should not be surprising that these last three years have been particularly trying. Which is why this next breakaway needed to be extra special. Which could only mean one place. Italy.

Since I fell in love with Niel, he always said that, one day, he would want to take me to Italy. It always remained a "one day" dream.  Besides - our views on how to go about touring thru Italy are just so very different. As the straight up and down engineer, an organised tour is the only way to do things. As a non-conformist IT geek, I refuse to sit in a bus and wow at something in unison. I want to go where others don't. I want to experience, not just see. But to put it together? Where would one start?

I'm an IT developer. Which implies that I should be good at anything involving a PC. Not! Or at least - not until I started organising a school reunion. That's when I discovered how much fun research is. If you can call finding people research, that is. So I used my newly-found talent. Googling. And of course some travel books. And a lot of talking. I talked about my plans with just about every person I came across. Hoping for ideas, tips, the sharing of fond memories. One couple told us about the cute guesthouse in Barolo with a view of the Piedmont Vineyards. Another friend told me about San Clemente in Rome - three cathedrals from 3 different eras built on top of each other. And the fact that, no matter where in Italy you drive, and no matter at what speed you are driving, you would always find a Fiat centimeters from your car's bumper. And I spent hours on the Internet. Searching. Searching again. And when I thought that I couldn't possibly find anything better, I searched some more.

And so - with just over a week to go before we leave for our Italian experience, and with those curve balls now coming in fast and furious, I have the itinerary set, the accommodation booked, some really cool experiences lined up, and still looking for more. I'm determined to drink up every bit of experience that Italy can offer.

I'm hanging on in quiet desparation. I think I will make it though. :)