Everyone is familiar with the saying when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Well in Italy, the saying replaces lemonade with the traditional liquor shot, limonchello. This perfectly sums up how my study abroad experience was. We were constantly learning to make limonchello with the lemons we were given. My travel day home is the best example of this.
Taking Flight
I loved my time in Italy. I saw so many incredible places, tried the best food, met kind people, and grew so much. Yet, I was still ready to come home after my five weeks were up. Not because I didn’t like it there, but because I missed home. I think I could make a home there if I wanted to. It’s not about missing the United States but missing my community.
So just when I was excited to get home, the airlines had a different plan. I’m sure you have heard, but airline travel is a mess right now. There are so many delays, cancellations, missing bags and long customer service lines.
We got to the Florence airport three hours early and thank God we did because it was a madhouse. The lines to check your bags were insanely long yet, getting through security was a breeze. It was so odd. The airport is laid out weird where there aren’t many food options or places to sit which sucks.
We sat on the floor and hung out for our flights. My flight ended up being delayed two hours, one of which we spent already sitting in the plane on the tarmac. It sucked. That delay caused me to miss my connection out of Amsterdam and I spent two hours in customer service trying to get on the last flight out. Then, that flight was delayed, and the line for customs in JFK was so insanely long that I missed my last flight to get home. I was so upset because I had raced through the airport just to not be able to get through security.
Stuck in New York
After traveling for 22 straight hours without good sleep, I was super run down. I took a deep breath and sat my ass down in the customer service line knowing I was in for a long haul. My two goals were to have them put me up in a hotel for the night and reschedule a flight for tomorrow. The line was ridiculous, I waited over two hours and still wasn’t even halfway through. Luckily, I was smart enough to get on the phone with Delta customer service so I was helped with rebooking my flight. Then I just had to wait on the hotel. This woman came around and said that all of the hotels were full so to just book it on our own and call them after for reimbursement. I was so hungry, tired and had to use the bathroom so finally I bailed.
That night, I had the best sleep of my life in that hotel. The shower made me feel so fresh, the air conditioning was blasting, and the large comfy bed was nothing like my dorm twin. I even got to sleep in until 11:30 when I haven’t been able to sleep past 8:30 am in a month! I felt so refreshed and in such a better mood to travel home.
Queens, NY
My flight wasn’t until 8 pm that day and I was so exhausted from travel that I wasn’t really planning on doing anything. I honestly kind of wanted to just sit at the airport and relax. However, the craving for a good burger got the best of me. I researched the best place to go in Queens and landed on The Local Press. Boy did this place hit the spot. I loved the vibe of the restaurant, the rap music playing and of course, the mouth watering food.
On my way out, I asked if the waiter had any recommendations of things to do in the area. He kind of laughed at me like he was thinking “around here? really? lol no”. He did suggest that I take the train to the coast and that there were some cool things around there.
I walked to the station and really struggled to figure out how to buy a ticket because it is so vastly different than Italy. This man near me saw me try to scan a ticket that I purchased and bent over laughing because I was clearly wrong. It turns out I had bought a bus ticket. You only scan a metro pass or your credit card to enter the metro. I would have literally never guessed that I was supposed to wifi tap my credit card so I’m glad he helped me haha.
Rockaway Beach
On the metro I saw a group of people decked out in beach gear and decided to follow them. I got off at the stop for Rockaway Beach and the ocean was steps away. The coolest coffee stop and surfboard rental caught my eye. I stopped in for a fresh lemonade, to journal and charge my phone.
Once I was all charged up, I headed to the beach. I was so surprised to see how well developed it was with a nice board walk, bathrooms, and tons of people. It was what you would expect from a South Carolina small beach town, not a beach outside of New York City.
The UV index was high and I knew I was never going to see these people again so I decided to just lay out in my underwear. It is hardly different than a swimsuit anyways. It was so relaxing just laying there listening to the waves crash and speakers play. My favorite thing about being back in the US was that it was much easier to be aware of what was going on around me. The conversations these young New Yorkers were having were so entertaining.
Just as I was packing up and washing off the sand, I met some new friends. I made a joke to the woman next to me about how unprepared I was and we got to talking. I explained my delays and how I had happened to discover Rockaway Beach. She was a teacher from NYC who had taken an hour long train with her friend for a beach day. She kept telling me how cool she thought I was to spend my layover here instead of the airport. It really boosted my self-confidence because I never thought of it that way. We departed and wished each other the best.
Finally Heading Home
Getting to the airport was surprisingly easily from Rockaway Beach. All I needed to do was take a 10 minute metro and then the airway train which took me to the terminal I needed. I’m really glad I stuck in the area instead of going to Manhattan because it really minimized my travel stress.
I still had some trouble with checking in for my flight but I could handle it because I was well rested, had a full stomach, and a happy heart. I landed in Columbus so excited to see my family and tell them everything about my day. Within those last 48 hours of my trip I had reached my breaking point and peak happiness. I pushed myself during my moments of stress, fear and exhaustion because there was no other option. Now, I look back and realize how much more independent I have become because of it. I definitely made limonchello out of the situation.
