Travel is educational. Definitely culturally and historically. Occasionally its by walking barefoot into a raised floor edge at 2:17 a.m. Let me introduce you to a few of the lessons we have learned. (If you’d like the more polished version of our first days in Rome, you can read Rome: A First Look here.)
First Lesson
Respect floor undulations in old buildings. Memorize every unexpected step up, step down, tilt, ridge, and mysterious elevation change between the bed and bathroom and every other space in your living situation. This simple discipline may save your toes, ankles, dignity, or all three.
Second Lesson
Leave a small light on somewhere in the apartment at night for guidance.
Our apartment featured a charming collection of unlabeled switches, some of which rang the front doorbell. Discovering this in the middle of the night can be startling for the person pressing it, but far more alarming for the spouse sound asleep three feet away. Nothing says romance in Italy quite like accidentally summoning the household at 3:00 a.m.
Third Lesson
If you hear what sounds like unauthorized attic activity above your bedroom, do not panic immediately. It may simply be pigeons.
It’s possible you happen to have an entire flock living directly over your head, so prepare for their enthusiastic morning wake up and mass departure. They are surprisingly loud, oddly dramatic, and just unsettling enough to make you wonder what else the building has preserved from the fourteenth century.
Fourth Lesson
At 6’3” and 5’9”, we already take up a fair amount of space. Put us in a standard European hotel room with three suitcases and two carry-ons, and it becomes a life-sized strategy game.
Every movement requires forethought. One wrong turn and someone is pinned between the bed and the wardrobe. This is where being married to an engineer becomes invaluable. There was planning, sequencing, and likely load distribution involved.
Fifth Lesson
Speaking of luggage, if you are fortunate enough to have an elevator where you are staying, be grateful.
Then understand that when they say elevator, they often mean a charming vertical box designed for two people. Not two people and five pieces of luggage. Not two people and five pieces of luggage plus optimism.
At some point, choices must be made. Usually one spouse rides with the bags while the other takes the stairs and reflects on previous packing decisions.
Sixth and Final Lesson (So Far!)
Sixth and final lesson, at least for now: jet lag is real. Do not make any major decisions during the first few days abroad. Truthfully, even minor decisions can feel unnecessarily complicated. Simple tasks may suddenly require thought and concentration.
For example, flushing the toilet does not turn on the bathroom light. Or your spouse finding you standing in front of the hotel room door, waiting for it to open, before realizing its not the elevator. Small mistakes, certainly, but you understand what I mean.
Travel has a way of humbling you, amusing you, and reminding you that half the fun is learning to laugh together in unfamiliar places. Especially after occasionally setting off doorbells in the dark.