Part of moving to a new city and getting to know people is telling them what you do, and in some cases why you do it. When asked that question, I say simply because it’s My Passion, Italy.
But, it’s bigger than that. When I was four years old my mom began taking me to Europe with her school groups. I wasn’t nearly appreciative enough. Until we went to Italy, that is. Thank Heaven for Dante Alighieri!
After Summer upon Summer England, a few in Paris or Lucerne mixed in, I suggested that we might try somewhere warmer, Mediterranean perhaps. She agreed and said, “Well, I do teach Dante…” And so, my passion and another of hers was born.
It was love at first sight with Italy and me. Still in the air, I began to fall in love. I’d been baptized the week before, knowing that something old inside me was dying, and something new being born. I was shy then, before I met Italy.
Somewhere between falling in a giant hole of sand dug by Venetians, and being asked a hundred times if I was Brittney Spears by Roman gladiators, my shyness was replaced with so much passion for the country and the fun its people showed me how to have that I didn’t have a care in the world what anyone back home thought of me.
That trip changed my life. Italy changed me. I have my mother to thank for sharing this world with me. For letting me go, and explore, and be changed.
Is there a greater gift on this earth than being able to bestow the gift that changed your life onto others so it can change theirs?
Cancer ripped Mom away from me so quickly it still makes my head spin. Among her last words were “fish fountain”. She wanted the painting of the fountain in Piazza di Spagna that I’d brought home for her from Rome. She always called it “my fish fountain, at the foot of Keats’ house”.
It was hers, as it is all of ours. People from all over the world still gather around its cooling water. I just adore the accessibility of Rome.
After planning trips professionally now for a couple of years, my answer for why I do this is becoming deeper with each client.
A trip to Italy for most of us is not just a random whim, it’s a celebration. A celebration of life, of love, of family, babies being born, health being restored, children’s graduations.
Many of the students who my mom and I took to Europe became more like family to us. And my clients become more than customers to me.
At PFI, we care so deeply about our clients’ experiences there in the place we love so dearly. We know the effect that country can have on so many lives.
When you come to Passion for Italy Travel, you are coming to people who, yes, know Italy very well, but you are also coming to people who have personal relationships with it. Who want to get to know you so that we can gently introduce you to its beauty and charm in ways tailored for you alone.
If you are looking for the right people to help you plan your trip, contact us. We’d love to meet you, and help you find your own passion for Italy.
Lindsay Sinko,
Passion for Italy Travel, USA