My Maiden Voyage Abroad: Sicily

Currently unemployed with way too much time on my hands I figure it is time for me to finally organize my photos and tell my story. Hopefully this way my children will understand my love of traveling and maybe even desire to expand their world family as well.

How it began:

As a young girl I would listen to stories of far off lands and dream of one day visiting places like Japan or India. Not even being able to afford my school’s eighth grade trip to DC, I wondered how I would ever travel. Luckily my parents instilled me with a hard work ethic and faith that the good desires of my heart can be realized. Despite economic difficulties, my father always found ways of making my dreams come true. I still remember the Christmas when I went into the basement to find half of the basement had been turned into a dance studio, complete with full-length mirrors and a ballet bar.  How he did that over night I will never know.

People often asked me why I travel, or when and how did it start. 

After my first year of college, the start of 2007, I was emotionally lost and longing to just get out. I don’t know what I was looking for but I felt as though it was going to be found far away. Working an office job with a lot of down time I spent countless hours searching for flights, a hobby I still actively engage in. oh wanderlust!  Two weeks before the semester was to end, I found a cheap flight to Sicily Italy. I was very familiar with Italy as my great grandparents were from the southern Italian provinces, but Sicily was completely foreign. With out consulting any one I purchased the ticket. In three weeks I was on a plane to Sicily! People thought my parents were crazy, and to be honest I kind of thought so too. My mom however, strongly believed that she raised us to live. She would sometimes respond to others shock saying, “better for my children to die living, than to not live.” I couldn’t agree more! Granted as an 18 year old this first trip seemed more like I was going to die than live. I found work as an au pair for a family, which comforted me greatly. But trust me, a maiden voyage alone is still scary. I had to keep asking myself “What is the worst that could happen?” Often the worst possible outcome was me getting lost, which I did or standing alone in the middle of the airport for hours crying, which I also did. Or getting stranded in another country where I don’t speak the language and don’t know anyone, which of course also happened. But the best part is- I lived through it! And to be honest, I think I am a much better person for it. That summer was certainly the hardest summer of my life. I was alone and isolated. I had no real friends and no one that even understood me. I was lost religiously and spent much of my free time reading scriptures and praying. I wanted direction in my life, which I found, but sorry that story will have to be for another day. 

Like a right of passage, the men would sit smoke and discuss

making sauce

Sicily is the Italy we all imagine when we think of vineyards, and fresh mozzarella. Sicily is that old man sitting on his balcony listening to classic italian records on a record player while puffing on a cigar. Sicily doesn't try to prove anything to anyone, and as a result allows time to pass with out regard for much else. Sicily cares about the family and relations. It is drenched in tradition and beautiful sunshine. Sicily is a place connected to its past while living fully in it's present. Organic in diet in lifestyle, this island is grounded and content.  Sicily is the Italy you see in pictures of Sophia Loren or create while listening to the songs of Andrea Bocelli.

sicilian cards

Sicily changed me, as traveling anywhere tends to. I became a more confident person. I learned that things, even scary things, turn out alright in the end. I learned that people in another country are a lot like me. We all have desires and fears that we are sorting in my minds. Despite the language and cultural barriers, for the most part, we are all seeking to love and be loved.  I learned that it is ok for your greatest priority to be your family and spending time with them. Sicily taught me to adore real flavor and how to eat a whole pizza by myself in one sitting. I sadly never learned how they maintained such beautiful bodies while eating more than me... Sicily taught me to love a culture other than my own. 

Erice

I love how the graffiti is so romantic- even when placed by a drain

*this trip was my first time really taking pictures and it was on a hand me down camera so I am sorry they are not as clear as I would like*