In Love and War

October 4, 2014December 26, 2014 ccandido1 Travel a farewell to arms, ernest hemingway, for whom the bell tolls, in love and war, italy, sandra bullock, the sun also rises, travel, vittorio veneto, world war i

As two weeks of playing tour guide to friends winds down, I finally have some time to sit and reflect on what’s gone on lately. It was brought to my attention that an American movie was filmed in my tiny town of Vittorio Veneto in the 1990s, so I of course had to immediately rent it on iTunes. In Love and War takes place during the First World War and documents Ernest Hemingway’s experiences as a Red Cross volunteer. Apparently, he was injured and fell in love with one of his nurses during recovery. Their relationship unfortunately did not work out ( why couldn’t the movie just pretend?! 😦 ), and it is said that Hemingway remained forever heartbroken over his first love, Agnes von Kurowsky.

The film is so incredibly cool to watch because I live in the heart of its setting and it hasn’t changed a bit. Being a historic town, VV looks as though it did during both World Wars (or at least extremely close to it). After playing In Love and War on repeat and sulking about the breakup, I began researching “Ernie” and pulling together some of my favorite quotes of his.

“There is nothing else than now. There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow. How old must you be before you know that? There is only now, and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion. This is how you live a life in two days. And if you stop complaining and asking for what you never will get, you will have a good life. A good life is not measured by any biblical span.” – found in For Whom the Bell Tolls

“Try to learn to breathe deeply, to really taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, to really sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good & angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

“Out of all the things you could not have, there were some things that you could have.. & one of those was to know when you were happy, and to enjoy all of it while it was there and it was good.”

“Life is unpredictable; it changes with the seasons. Even your coldest winter happens for the best of reasons. And though it feels eternal, like all you’ll ever do is freeze, I promise spring is coming, and with it brand new leaves.”

“You talk like a timetable. Did you have any beautiful adventures?” – found in A Farewell to Arms

“Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.”

“I can’t stand to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.” – found in The Sun Also Rises

“Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.”

As I’m sure is apparent, the excerpts I’ve shared are all related in that they have to do with living and appreciating life. Hemingway, though perhaps broken and in pain (he married four times and eventually took his own life), certainly offered great advice about living. In the scheme of things, our time on Earth is so excruciatingly short.. to worry serves no purpose, to wait is ludicrous, and to simply exist is one of the saddest ways to spend your days.

Driving in Italy

September 9, 2014 ccandido1 Travel automatic, driving, italy, manual, travel

Though I’m a CartaFreccia member and swear by TrenItalia, I must admit that I’m partial to having a car in Italy. If not staying in or exploring a city, I love having the freedom to pull over wherever and take in the incredible sights seen right from the Autostrade. My friend Natalie and I are notorious for waking up in the morning, looking at our iPhone maps, and choosing a place that sounds cool to visit that day! It’s actually how we discovered Portofino, one of our favorite spots on the Italian Riviera.

Driving in Italy, however, is of course different from driving at home in the US; it’s more fun 😉

Luckily, one thing that remains the same is the side of the road Italians drive on
- No need to make adjustments there! They’re on the right side, like us
The majority of cars (probably like 95%, with the remaining 5% reserved for tourists) are stick-shift, not automatic (o Dio)
- If you’re renting, be sure to specify that you need automatic and not manual!
They’re also much tinier than our cars, and at least attempt to be more fuel efficient
- You may notice that your car turns off when you come to a full stop at a red light or to pay a toll. This happens automatically to preserve gas, and it’ll turn back on once you let your foot off the brake
Speaking of tolls, they can be paid in one of three ways: Telepass (their version of our EZ-Pass), in cash, or with credit/debit cards
- In many cases, you’ll pull up to a tollbooth and take a ticket
  - Before you exit the highway, you’ll go through another tollbooth where you’ll insert your ticket and be given the price you’re required to pay
  - Though there are illustrations to help, if you’re paying with a credit card look for “CARTE” on the signs up top to know which lane to stay in
- You won’t see many cops on the road, but Italians are definitely [sneakily] watching your speed!
  - There are cameras all over, so be sure to stay at a reasonable speed or you’ll come home to a speeding ticket in the mail! I get one every single time I’m here… you’d think I’d have learned by now (sorry Dad!!)!
- Their road signs are different than ours, so it can be confusing to decipher what’s a one-way, where you can and cannot park, etc. Some of the more important ones include:
  - and may look like “Do Not Enter,” but they actually signify “No Parking” and “No Stopping,” respectively
  - means “Do Not Enter,” whereas denotes “Restricted Access”
    - Natalie and I have also gotten tickets in the mail months later for driving in restricted areas in Rome, so this would have been helpful to know!
  - is “One-Way Traffic”
  - When headed into town/a city, you’ll see signs like these to indicate where the center (“Centro”) is (probably where you’re looking to go!) as well as the main train station (Stazione)
  - Luckily, their stop signs are the same as ours
- As with everywhere else on Earth aside from the United States, Italy uses the metric system
  - Distances are given in meters/kilometers, as is speed/speed-limit signs (km/hr)
    - 1km/hr is a little more than half a mile per hour, so if you’re driving 100km/hr you’re going about 62miles/hr
  - Just as Jersey loves jughandles, Italians are all about traffic circles
    - They’re everywhere!
  - They also love driving fast in the left lane
    - I have a heavy foot and love being number one on the road (especially on the Parkway), but Italians take it to an entirely different level
    - If you’re driving in the left lane and are not going well above the speed limit, they will tailgate and flash you with zero hesitation
      - It is considered extremely rude and unnecessary to stay in the left if you aren’t going very fast, so your safest bet is to stay out of that lane
      - Don’t expect dirty looks or middle fingers as they pass, though – this is simply common practice and etiquette on Italian roadways (so don’t take it personally) 🙂
    - Passing is common even in residential areas and on smaller roads
      - It is acceptable to move into the lane for oncoming traffic (if all clear, of course) to pass the person in front of you if you’re traveling faster than them
      - Italians have no fear! I’ve seen this done on windy, narrow, cliff-scaling roads along the Amalfi Coast as if it was nothing
    - AutoGrills can be found all over when driving on the highway/Autostrade
      - They’re awesome rest stops that are similar to our 7-11s but better
      - If you’re hungry or need coffee, they have tons of amazing snacks in addition to a “bar” with coffee, drinks, sandwiches, etc.

Good luck, have fun, and be careful!

MileagePlus Program (iLOVEYOU)

September 2, 2014September 2, 2014 ccandido1 Travel budgeting, chase, credit card, explorer, mileageplus, miles, travel, united, wanderlust

After doing some mileage program research, I decided to go with the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card a few years ago. There is an annual fee, but it’s minimal and you more than make up for it if you use the card wisely and take advantage of its benefits!

Generally, the way it works is that you build “miles” according to how much you’re spending and what you’re buying. Every dollar is equivalent to at least one mile, though shopping at certain places earns you more. For instance, Nordstrom is typically at least 4 miles to the dollar. FTD is another favorite of mine – a $100 bouquet of flowers can earn you thousands of miles! I send flowers to everyone for the most random occasions (it’s a win-win)! 😉 Magazines.com is another huge one; a magazine subscription can earn you ridiculous amounts of miles, and I’m an avid Cosmo reader so this one’s huge for me; I get the US, Italy, and UK versions delivered to my apartment.

When you actually travel, you earn not only on the ticket price but also on the distance flown. It’s great!

Once you’ve accumulated points and are ready to book, it’s important to keep in mind that “miles earned” is not equivalent to “miles you want to fly.” In other words, if you’re trying to go from NYC to Rome, you’ll unfortunately need more than ~4,300 miles (which makes sense considering you can accumulate that many from one bouquet of flowers alone!). Instead, a one-way ticket from NYC to Rome is 30,000 miles (round-trip is 60,000). Domestic flights are way less!

Using the United MileagePlus card, I’ve managed to have almost every other flight completely paid for in miles. In other words, zero dollars. When I do spend on flights, I spend hours looking for deals – I try different combinations of airports (out of Newark but back into JFK, for instance) and dates. I credit my psych background for these incredibly valuable research skills B), and I spend on average $600 for round-trip flights to Europe when I pay out of pocket.

It’s safe to say that miles are more valuable than money for me at this point in my life, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it. ❤

Budgeting

September 2, 2014September 2, 2014 ccandido1 Travel budgeting, chase, credit card, explorer, mileageplus, travel, united

Any time I talk to someone new about my “galavanting” as my grandma puts it (she’s the one who’s so lovingly called me a gypsy my whole life, too), they’re convinced that either a) my dad pays my rent (HAHA!), b) I have a rich boyfriend in Italy (another joke.. I’m Miss “Don’t Even Say the R Word in My Presence”), or c) I’m in insane debt and spend beyond my means.

Obviously, none of these are true (& thank GOD c isn’t). Truthfully, I’m just careful. When I get paid each week (or got paid, since I’m now solely volunteering), my direct-deposit check was automatically split into three accounts:

Rent Checking: $300
- This amounts to $1,200/month, which is enough to cover both my rent and utilities
- I don’t even see this money, so I never have to worry about being tempted to spend it or about scrambling at the end of the month to come up with rent
Savings: $100
- It’s probably not a lot, but for me this is huge
- I started my automatic savings deposits small ($20) and had them gradually increase to where they are now
- Up until embarrassingly recently, a “savings account” to me was one I drained when I wanted to buy something big or go somewhere extra far.. I definitely wasn’t saving to save (& would’ve been screwed in the event of a full-blown emergency for sure)
Regular Checking: the rest
- It’s from this account that I pay my credit card and other bills (lease, insurance, etc.)

BIG checks from real estate deals are split in a similar manner, though only between savings and regular checking. The majority goes to savings and to pay a chunk of my school loans.

Automatic payments are lifesavers for me! As I’ve said, I’m constantly going in 73 different directions at once – between work and school alone I’m swamped, and if something isn’t in my iPhone calendar, it’s not happening. Automatic, recurring payments save me from having to remember certain bills (& spare me from ever being late!).

Car: my lease payment is automatically taken out of my checking account at the end of the month
Student Loans: these payments break my heart when I see them constantly withdrawn L but it has to be done
- I didn’t defer my loans/put off payments until after graduation, so I’ve always paid as I’ve attended classes
- I make these a devastating once a week (even now while I’m unemployed.. posso vomitare)
  - I think the minimum is like $40/month, but I end up paying about $300/month because I’m neurotic

I’m sure you could make automatic payments for credit card bills, but I don’t. As neurotic as I am about school loan payments, I’m way worse with my card! I only have one: the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Card. I am obsessed. I use Chase for my checking/savings/rent accounts, as well, and I can’t say enough good things about them or their app. I’ve heard it’s good to keep a small balance on a credit card, but I literally would lose sleep at night – I immediately pay off any charges I make directly on my iPhone through the Chase app. I always saw my parents pay early and in full, and I guess I’ve picked it up from them!

Budgeting aside, the MileagePlus program associated with my card has allowed me to travel like the gypsy I am and then some. It changed my life! It even has its own separate post, that’s how f’ing valuable it is to me! 😉 Check that out for more info.

Travel List (2012 – Present)

September 2, 2014December 29, 2015 ccandido1 Travel gypsy, international, travel, wanderlust

Below is a list of relatively recent travel destinations & lengths of stay.

At the beginning of of 2013, I thought for sure I’d have to stop going away as often as I’d become accustomed to. I rented a new apartment alone (miss my roomies!), started my Master’s, and leased a new car all in the same month – my bank account hated me. When you want something bad enough, though, you make it happen; it ended up being an incredible year travel-wise.

Though I’m not proud of it, I am notorious for being impossible to get in touch with (let alone face-to-face! e` uno scherzo!).. These past few years, I’ve worked full-time at a kennel and part-time as a realtor and tutor, in addition to being a full-time grad student and interning once a week. However, I feel like if I waited until I “have more time,” I may never do the things I want to do or see the places I’m dying to visit (some over and over, like my Italy ;)). I’d rather travel often and in small doses than not at all; I’ll take what I can get!

I don’t make a lot of money by any means, but I like to think I’m smart with what I have. There’s a separate post offering budgeting tips that have at least worked well for me!

2012:

January/February: Italy (1 month)
April: Costa Rica (4 nights)
June: Italy (3 nights)
October: Italy (3 nights)
November: Florida (2 nights) & St. Maarten (3 nights)
December: Czech Republic & Germany (2 nights)

2013:

March: Italy & France (4 nights)
June: Ireland (2 nights)
July: Italy (3 nights)
August: Chicago (1 night)
September: Norway (2 nights)
October: Italy & Switzerland (1 night!)
December: Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein (2 nights)

2014:

February: Italy (2 nights)
March: Iceland (2 nights)
April: North Carolina (1 night) & Italy (3 nights)
May: Italy (2 nights)
August: Italy (3 month stay) & Sicily (3 nights)
September: Italy (3 month stay), Slovenia (1 day), & Croatia (1 day)
October: Italy (3 month stay)

2015:

February: Austria (1 night)
March: Poland & Germany (2 nights), Florida (2 nights)
April: Italy (2 nights)
June: Netherlands & Belgium (2 nights), Chicago (1 night)
August: Italy (2 nights)
September: Italy (3 nights)
October: Chicago (1 night)
December: Spain & Italy (6 nights)

il primo

September 1, 2014September 2, 2014 ccandido1 Travel alzheimer's, italy, neurological disorders, northern italy, wanderlust

Ciao! My name is Christina and I’m 26 years old. Though born and raised in Jersey, I’m currently living and volunteering in Northern Italy. I graduated with my Master’s in May, quit my job in July, and moved here to learn, help, love, and, of course, attempt to fill the bottomless pit that is my sense of wanderlust. My ultimate dream is to work in geriatrics – I am applying to doctoral programs and would love to eventually help individuals with neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This blog is meant to organize my experiences and research, and to share what I’m learning in relation to caregiving, neurology, and travel. 🙂