I went to Rome last month and spent 1 month.
If you want to GO - please GO.
I was suffering from the worst health crisis of my life (a quack doctor almost killed me by giving me the wrong medication - want to sue him, but medical malpractice suits are hard to win).
But going to Rome, saved me.
I fell in love with the beautiful sights.
The Piazzas. St Peter's Square. The Vatican. The breathtaking Pantheon. The Borghese. The Spanish Steps. The Colosseum.
I would sit in the Borghese garden and my mind was blank for the first time. No stress. No worries. It was so strange.
I would get lost near the fountains. Just watching. That made me feel at peace.
I'd wake up early and just walk. I lost 10 pounds walking which I’m trying to gain back lols.
No plan, no map, just following whatever street looked interesting. You turn a corner and there's a an amazing ancient ruin sitting next to someone's apartment building like it's nothing.
I would walk 5 minutes - beautiful sight - another 5 minutes - another beautiful sight.
The shopping roads were pretty cool. I love to shop. Though everything was so expensive.
It's a beautiful city. But it’s also a nice city. People there are so friendly. They smile at you as if they can understand what you’re going through.
And on my birthday, when I felt the most alone and worried about getting older, I went to my favorite restaurant near Roma Termini, and the waiter told me the cake was free for my special day. Happy birthday from a total stranger. Not sure how he knew it was my birthday. (Lols I told them the day before - I remember now. But he also remembered)
And then a few hours in Tivoli - the waterfalls - best way to calm down and lose the stress. So beautiful.
O beware of the street vendors. I have a thing for grapes and couldn’t find them in Rome. Some street vendor wanted to cheat me out of $30 for 10 grapes. Guy needs to make a living.
When I came back from Rome, everyone saw a change. I was more motivated, more productive, sharper.
I moved houses (I live in Florida) to be somewhere that reminded me of Rome - by the way that was impossible. Nothing can compare but even 1% I’ll take it.
That made me happier.
I also became more confident.
I can express myself better than before.
I said goodbye to all the toxic and stressful stuff that was making me unhappy before and moved towards more positive people and things.
I’m also calmer. Things that used to stress me out, I pause and think of a plan instead.
I fixed some toxic but important relationships (toxic because of my health crisis) and made them positive and fruitful.
My parents who used to stress me out for money - well I finally added space and had one of the best conversations with them. I love you, but this needs to stop or you’ll lose me for good.
Someone tried to make me feel bad about myself. I looked at him eyes - gave him eye contact - and shut him up in one go. I basically told him what his real issue was with me. He was surprised that I had figured it out. Guess he thought I was dumb.
Oh yea it was hot but not too bad.
Oh one last thing - the new place I live comes with a fountains. I just noticed that a few days ago. It’s also close to the beach but Miami is so hot that why would I go to the beach. sigh.
I'm writing this post because I see a lot of posts on reddit about people not feeling productive or motivated or depressed. I felt dead a few months ago. Rome and a doctor who actually knew what he was doing changed everything.
Here are the photos I posted from Rome in June -
https://www.reddit.com/r/travelphotos/comments/1ucfi1p/love_tivoli/
https://www.reddit.com/r/travelphotos/comments/1uawskk/i_love_rome_part_2/
I also use this account as a personal account since it’s too much work to open a new account (I have a really long to do list so need to prioritize)
