"Let's pretend it's not the end of the world"
An insight into travel during uncertain times ...
It’s the weekend in Naples, Italy, following Workers’ Day on May 1, a holiday commemorating the sacrifices of the working class.
I booked a hotel room last minute, settling for what I would consider an establishment that’s a bit rough around the edges located in the middle of the old city.
I’m sitting on a rickety balcony with cast iron railing, hovering a couple of stories above a narrow alley. Laundry, hanging off neighboring balconies guarded by toy dogs, is drying. Exuberantly spoken Italian along with the smells of food rise through the air, welcome companions to my thoughts and a bottle of hearty red wine.
Popular opera songs are bellowed out by a gathering crowd, led by a more than competent tenor, amidst laughter and clapping and cheering. The celebration ensued after the hometown soccer team SSC Napoli beat Lecce. The tunes and wine lift the mood.
It’s the kind of magic travel conjures when you let yourself be free and open to what the moment has to offer you.
The truth is, you’re not going to find the real Italy, or the real anything, in some manicured, polished five-star hotel. Or in some curated, tour-guide-led vacation. You’re going to find it in the off-chance synchronicity of events. And by staying long enough in a place for the lacquer to wear off, to see what’s underneath.
These days, around every corner, the end of the world feels imminent. But in moments like this, around every corner, you can also find food, drink, friends, family, love, life itself — fleeting moments of humanity’s beauty.
That’s what gives me hope, even in times like these.