“Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
It's been awhile, hasn't it? I fell victim to procrastination and got caught up in the vicious cycle of "work". My apologies, however don't worry I'm back up and running. (for the time being) I'll have you know that this year was a big travel year for me. I celebrated the beginning of 2013 in the one and only New York City with my best friend and we traveled to Italy in May/June. I couldn't pass up celebrating my birthday in another country and Italy of all places. Despite financial woes and career changes, I managed to successfully balance my budget and hop on a plane at the end of May.
Getting to Italy was a fiasco. Weather delayed several flights, including mine and eventually my flight was cancelled. I was supposed to connect to Copenhagen, Denmark and then to Rome, Italy. I had worked overnight the day of my flight and lets just say flying with no sleep is not a very good idea. I got off around 10:00 AM and my flight was after 6:00 PM. Being the paranoid traveler that I am I headed to the airport once I grabbed lunch. I got through customs and that whole ordeal and started to wait. The PA system announced our flight was delayed and eventually they canceled our flight around 8:30 PM. I won't get into details, but lets just say the airline wasn't ready for the cancellation either as they us a phone number to call to change the flight or ask for a refund. I called as soon as it was given out and I was number 12 in the cue. It took me about an hour and a half to talk to someone and gather my luggage. Frustrated, hungry and tired... I had enough. I went back into the long line which I had been waiting in for about 2 hours and by that time a bus load of more frustrated customers arrived from JFK who were on the plane which we were supposed to get on to travel to Copenhagen. Luck must have been on my side that day (minus the cancelled flight) because unlike many of my fellow travelers I got a connecting flight to Munich, Germany and then to Rome. Some people missed 3 days of their cruise because they couldn't get a flight to Copenhagen. My new flight had been delayed for about an hour because of the weather and was set to depart in a half and hour. My connection flight from Munich to Rome was set for 2:30 PM the next day, our delayed departure put us in Munich at 2:00 PM. So, you know who was rushing about? This girl and I did in fact catch my flight, barely.
Despite the rocky start, I finally caught a cab and met my best friend at our hotel. We ventured to the Spanish Steps for dinner and walked around a bit. We visited Rome, Pompeii, Venice, Verona, Milan and Florence throughout our adventure. We mostly traveled by a high-speed train and buses. To sum up our days in Italy... we saw a movie in Rome, bought REAL leather in Florence, went shopping in Milan, hung out with Juliet on her balcony in Verona and dined with rich in Venice. Less than 7 days and we traveled to 7 different cities. On the final day we had to travel from Milan back to Rome and I had to catch my flight back home. But, I had a stop first. 
I had a 13 hour layover in Copenhagen, Denmark and had scheduled a 3 hour tour in the city. I arrived in Copenhagen after dinner time and slept on a couch I found until my tour at 8:00 AM. I tell you the truth, I was a little uneasy about going on a tour of another country by myself. But, I had a blast and my tour guide was fun and knowledgeable. Did you know that it took Germany nearly 2 hours to overtake Denmark and that most of the streets are named after battles that they had lost? 
A great travel year for me in 2013, but 2014 brings a brand new year and new adventures. And, for those of you who know... this year will truly be life changing for me on the career front. I'm planning on traveling to Lima, Peru sometime after July to see my best friend. And, after February we decided to look west for a travel destination. A place like Nevada or California. But, who knows what the future will bring and what we finally decide.
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