What I Did On My American "Vacation"

… Well... I got Covid!

But let's backtrack.....

I had not been back to the US since we moved to Italy 4 years ago, so I was excited to come back and see family and friends. Our trip spanned from VA to VT in just 8 days, so we had a lot of time on the road. 

The trip started out as a total disaster: We stayed overnight in Fiumicino before our flight from Rome to the States, and during the night, thieves broke into our car and stole our bags out of the trunk, which were stuffed to the gills with Christmas presents, and all our clothes of course. Obviously it was stupid for us to leave the bags in the trunk --- it was a rough wake-up call to us, as we’ve become so used to being in small towns where crime is virtually nonexistent.

So we arrived in the US with the clothes on our backs and a bunch of apologies for coming empty-handed from one of the best food cultures in the world. (Those thieves are going to have one delicious December just eating out of our suitcases).

Very shortly after we arrived, I picked up Covid - for the first time ever - so the majority of the trip for me has been in isolation in hotel rooms. (Matt tested throughout the trip and was always negative.)

We took a lot of precautions, like wearing masks while driving in the car, with windows open, even in freezing weather. (I was helped immensely by the fact that the car had heated seats - a lifesaver.) We were wearing masks any time we were together, and drastically limiting that time… For the last half of the trip we got separate hotel rooms. There were a couple of times there I was so sick I was actually concerned, but I tested every day and finally on the last day, incredibly, I tested negative! What a huge relief for me, to be able to get on the plane to go home, and also to feel like I could breathe freely around Matt.

I didn't get to see much since most of my time was spent in hotel rooms, but I did get to grab a few snaps from the car. It would have been easy to focus on all that was missed: the gifts we so carefully curated and gathered that were stolen; and a particular poignant moment for me where I could only visit my 94-year-old grandma through a window. I would never have wanted to expose her to the illness I had just had, which was brutal. But seeing her through the glass (for just a few moments because it was 20°F outside) was a tough moment.

But instead of focusing on what was lost, since time can never be recaptured, I am choosing instead to focus on the great visits that we did have, short, masked and socially distanced though they may have been. I will get a little weepy if I think about not being able to hug so many people I was excited to see, and missed chances for long dinners and talks. But even without that, I still felt the love and care, and the acceptance, the kind you only get from family or those you choose to make your family. And today we’ve arrived back home safely, and we’re cuddling up to a couple of cats who may have missed us just a little.

Here are a few pictures I grabbed along the way. After four years in Italy I was amazed by the experience of being back in the US. It was so easy to get anything, absolutely any time of day. I was struck by the cost of everything - it is just so incredibly expensive to be there. I had forgotten what it was like to ride in a big car (our rental was big for our standards, small for typical American ones), over wide roads with plenty of space and mostly smooth highways, the driving was just so easy. I have also gotten used to driving restrictions here, making nearly every town center a pedestrian or limited-traffic zone, so I got an extra little kick out of driving right by Independence Hall in Philly. I grabbed that last pic from the passenger seat!