Hey Brittany! You just returned from an epic backpacking trip in Italy; what was the inspiration behind it?: What really inspired me to take a backpacking trip to Italy was the opportunity to push myself. I'm a pretty active person, but I had never done anything like travel via backpacking for 16 days! I always find that new challenges always make me reflect on myself and my life and it inspires me to do more of what I love and what makes me happy when I return home.

Who did you travel with and why?: I traveled with two of my closest girlfriends, Amy and Colleen. Amy and met in high school and were roommates in college, and we have a very similar free spirit type of personality, so I knew we would travel really well together. I've known Colleen since I was 3 or 4 years old, so she's practically family! Both of these girls were in my wedding, and they are just two really amazing and inspiring women. I couldn't have picked two better people to share this experience with!

Where all did you venture to in Italy?: Whew OK! We actually first flew in to Moscow, Russia, and even though it was just the airport, it was still a very interesting place! Once we got to Italy, our trip looked like this:
Bologna -> Parma -> Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare -> Vernazza -> Corniglia -> Manarola -> Riomaggiore) -> La Spezia -> Florence -> Naples -> Isla d'Ischia -> Vietri Sul Mare (Amalfi Coast) -> Salerno -> Rome
After Italy, we got to fly to Copenhagen, Denmark for a layover and that way so cool! Needless to say, we did A LOT in 16 days!

Alright, it's Italy...what was the best food you had on your trip?: Hmm that's a tough one! It totally depends on where you are, because the food is different in each region! In the Cinque Terre we ate literally nothing but seafood. The Cinque Terre is right on the coast of Italy, so fresh seafood every day is where it's at! In Florence we actually had my most favorite meal of the whole trip in this tiny little meat shop - it was a creamy sausage pasta and I still think about it almost every day! And then of course there's Naples, which has the best pizza!

I know there are many, but could you tell us about one unique experience that sticks out in your mind?: The best memory I have of the trip is probably also one of the simplest. We were on a train from La Spezia to the start of the Cinque Terre Trail in Monterosso al Mare. We had just taken a train from Parma to La Spezia, which took a couple of hours, so we were pretty anxious to get off and start exploring. I remember we had been going through a tunnel for about 10 minutes or so, when all of a sudden we burst out of the tunnel to a spectacular view of a high cliff with the bluest water you've ever seen straight below us. The whole train gasped and and stared out of the window until we went back in to the tunnel. It only lasted maybe 5 seconds, but it was the most amazing feeling. After we went back in the tunnel my friends and I just stared at each other with these big goofy grins on our faces haha it was incredible.

As a native Oregonian, did you notice any similarities between our environment/community and theirs? Major differences?: One similarity between Oregon and Italy that I noticed was that the scenery is so different depending on where you are. We took trains all over the country, and we saw sites from craggy cliffs to stormy coastal towns to rolling hills...it reminded me a lot of how, in Oregon, you can go all over the state and see all different types of landscapes. We have coast, we have forest, we have desert...we're very lucky to live in such a diverse and beautiful place.

Biggest piece of advice for those with the itch to travel: Just GO! Don't think too much about it. I hear people all the time who say things like "I've got too much going on at work," "I can't leave my [boyfriend, husband, kids, etc]." People think that if they just wait a little longer, they won't have as many responsibilities. Well, that's BS. You're always going to have responsibilities. Money might always be tight. But traveling is worth it, experiencing new cultures and news ways of life is worth it. Traveling gives you the opportunity to take a step back and take a look at your own life. It opens your eyes and your mind! When we first decided to go on this trip, we were several glasses of wine deep and we just decided we'd rather be drinking wine in Italy, so we got out our credit cards and bought our plane tickets then and there. And yeah, the next day was a little nerve racking when we thought about what we had done, but I would not change a single thing about it, it was one of the best decisions I've made this year. So if you want to travel, then DO IT!

Thanks for chatting with us Brittany!: Thanks RepMeddy!

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