Arrivederci Summer…Salve Life!

If you have that Sunday night kind of feeling … a mix of anticipation and apprehension….your summer vacation

may be ending and school is starting up…Just retiring this summer, we are faced with that first end of summer without a return to school. We finished our student experience, moved into the teacher/ admin side and that new school year feeling continued….year after year, new school year after new year. So as this school year approaches, we had to find a new classroom. Benvenuto in Italia!

As our former colleagues and friends return to their local schools, we are heading off to a new adventure.

Robert Frost said…Two roads diverged in a wood and I —I took the one less travelled by, and it has made all the difference….

Well as this is being written – We are communing with Robert, with a frosty brew at, Two Roads brewery as we await our boarding… ahhh this living abroad idea is getting better all the time!

So this is the start of our 6 week live away…. there are differences to be sure. We are generally highly efficient packers using only a carry- on bag. It keeps you honest…Marie Kondo style.. If it doesn’t spark joy (or fit in your little case) you can leave it home.  This trip will span three countries and bridge two seasons. We ordered checked luggage. There was so much joy… we had to repack to stay under the 50 lbs…( sweaters are heavy!)

We have purged the house of anything that may spoil- having a farewell dinner with the kids including a parting gift of refrigerator remnants, frozen summer fare, etc. alerted the neighbors, stopped the mail, booked that Uber… We begin.

This overarching plan is to live. Live in the moment. Live as the locals, experience the culture and become part of the community. The dream is that when we leave someone will miss us… or at least know we were there…leave an impression. Think of a Venn diagram… the second aspect is – share the experience.

To that end we have rented a two bedroom apartment. Two weeks into our stay in Lucca Italy we will be joined by two adventures who will join share our trivial pursuit of living Italian! Later when it begins to cool and we move on to fall in the Cotswolds, we will be joined by another pair of travelers. Hopefully they will enjoy the experience in a new way. The third aspect is to discover…discover ourselves, our humanity, our purpose and how two small communities live their day to day.

We have a lot to do! Good thing – as educators… we understand the importance of doing your homework…or friending someone who did. Our summer research stored in Google Keep (school tool that travels well!) has a treasure trove of ideas for half or full days, sunny or rainy weather, festivals or special events only happening in the season or those not to miss… so peek in on us and see how this experiment goes!

Andiamo!