What were you grateful for this week?
The opportunity to meet people from all over the world!

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?
The most difficult part of this week, was by far traveling solo. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.
This week was a little different. My temporary host family doesn’t have a strict schedule so sometimes I work, sometimes I don’t! Anyway, my host mom told me that I could have all day Wednesday off and just when I was about to leave, the 2nd youngest daughter asked if I would make “slime” with her. So I stayed back, we went around town collecting materials for slime, and we ended up spending the whole day together and ended the day by playing soccer with all of the kids. I believe that could count as a “wow” moment! 

Tell us about your week! 
This week was really great! Like I said before, I didn’t really work much, so I got to go sightseeing almost everyday this week.

I was able to visit all of Genova, and then Portofino + Cinque Terre. Out of all the places, Portofino was by far my favorite! Portofino is so magical. It is only a mile wide, but if you want to see the castle and light house, it feels like a million miles when you are walking up those stairs! I’m a sucker for lighthouses, so I had to hike to the top of the “mountain” to see it. The lighthouse was sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and the view was nothing short of amazing.

Cinque Terre was also so beautiful. I hadn’t planned to visit all 5 cities, but with a mistake in my travel, I ended up having to visit all of them and I’m so glad I did! This trip particularly, was really tough for me. Seeing everyone traveling with their family, friends, & lovers, is really hard and it put a heavy weight on my mood. However, I was able to meet three girls from Mexico, Canada, & France and we were all able to hang out in one of the cities together! I learned that even though traveling alone is really quite lonely at times, if I hadn’t been traveling alone, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet those 3 girls! Also a bonus, those 3 girls are living in Milan as well!!

On Sunday, I travelled back home to Milan and I am so happy to be back. I seriously get butterflies every time I come to this city. It is so nice to be back with my actual host family and hear all about their holiday!

I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to explore Genova, and the cities on the coast. It was a week to remember, that’s for sure!