Right now as I’m sitting in my living room, enjoying a freshly made coffee while our travel-inspired Christmas tree lights up the room, I’m relishing the quietness. Incredibly both children are asleep. As they’ve both been recovering from terrible colds, we’ve been stuck inside since Christmas. I took this time to purge my house of unnecessary “STUFF”. I am an aspiring Minimalist, and could easily say more, but I will refrain (this time). Closets, kitchen, and basement have been cleaned and organized, so what am I to do?
A few moments ago as I sat to open up my computer, I thought I’d take a look at this, my travel blog, my fun project that I pretty much abandoned back in 2017. With exception to the one post I published this past summer, I haven’t touched the blog. So what happened?! Well, soon after starting Ciao Mondo Bello, I became pregnant and for the following few months I pretty much vegged on the couch watching Netflix when not doing the neccessary mommy duties and working. Then baby boy #2 came along in Aprils, and life has been fairly busy since. Let’s just say the 3 year old hasn’t always been the most gentlest older brother (i.e. I leave for 30 seconds and baby boy #2’s car seat is flipped over, with said baby’s nose almost grazing the floor). Needless to say, we’ve had to be on our toes these past few months. I know there are plenty of mothers with more kids who “find” the time. So honestly, the truth is, I haven’t made this blog my priority.
My semi-abandonment of this blog reminds me of my son’s baby book. I started out with the best of intentions, but then got behind in updating it, and shoved it into the closet. Instead of it being a book that I cherish looking at, I rather feel a tiny bit of shame and embarrassment for not keeping up with it. At this point it feels like too much of an undertaking to get it back out of the closet. That would be a good New Year’s resolution…maybe next year… I’ve decided in these last few moments to make this blog part of my New Year’s resolution. I think instead of delaying posting something because the grammar may not be perfect or I haven’t done enough research, I’m just going to write and not worry too much about it being perfect. Also, I want to write more about me (lol) and my thoughts and experiences, as well as about what is happening now, even if I’m not traveling currently.
I’ll part with just a quick look back on my travels in 2018. We started 2018 off on the right note, traveling to Amsterdam and my husband’s hometown in Italy. That trip didn’t end so great with Child #1 and I getting on the return flight home, while my husband had to remain in Amsterdam for nearly a week. I’ll save that story for another blog post! Then for a week in February we visited Florida (St. Pete Beach, Siesta Key, Fort Myers Beach, and Naples). Lastly, in November we spent 12 days exploring the Christmas markets of northern Europe. We also had a mishap there too, missing our flight! It looks like I’m the wrong person to give travel advice! You can follow along with me on my travels, and learn what NOT to do! Oh, and I can’t forget the two days we camped in my dad’s RV this summer! Baby boy #2’s first stay away from home.
We may have two children now, but there’s no plan to slow down yet! In 2019 we will once again be heading to Florida, and then in early June we’ll be flying to Italy for our annual 2-month summer stay there, which was sadly missed this past summer. My hope for 2019 is that I get to book some sweet reward trips with the points I’ve been acquiring since my recent foray into traveling hacking this past fall. Here’s to a happy and healthy new year, full of family, friends, and travel!
