What’s better: the perfect vacation or one littered with unexpected events? I’d argue the second because it makes your stories so much better. The perfect vacation is, well, boring. Sure, the sites you saw are interesting, but with no hardship, there’s no conflict, no growth as an individual. No excitement.

For example, on my first trip to Europe, our group is in Rome and one of us got pick-pocketed on the metro losing about 400 Euro. Okay, yes, that sucks and it’s a bit of a hassle making sure all of the credit cards are canceled (not sure if there were credit cards that were taken or not in this particular case). But as a group, we donated a little bit of our cash and were able to replace the lost Euros.

Think about the difference in stories.

“How was your trip?”

“Fantastic. In Rome we saw the Vatican. It was huge. Then we saw the coliseum. Man, it was big!”

“Mmm hmm.”

Or this:

“How was your trip?”

“I got pick-pocketed and lost 400 Euro in Rome.”

“What! You have to tell me what happened.”

And not only do you have a great story, you have a life lesson to teach anyone you know who may be going to Rome. Don’t put your money in your wallet in your jean pocket on a crowded subway. Lesson number two is that they’re professionals in Rome. Be aware of the scams and take things to dissuade them from targeting you.

On this trip, I had both types, the trip started out with a series of events that made things far more interesting and ended with things going fairly smooth. Luckily nobody lost any money on this trip but we did have a few events that make for interesting story telling. The first occurring on the bus trip to the hotel.

You may recall that I just made the noon bus. There were about fifteen of us waiting for the bus as it pulled up. We handed our luggage off to the driver, who stored it under the bus and stepped onboard. I made my way about half way back and sat in a row. With so few people, there was no need to worry about sharing rows.

The airport, Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, is on the east side of the city and our hotel was on the west side, so we had time to enjoy the scenery as we took the A90 loop road around. Traffic slowed down in bits, but overall a smooth ride, until we got off and started driving through the city.

Now, I have the greatest respect for bus drivers. Their ability to drive through crowded cities and pass parked cars within inches is enviable. When we drove down a street, then turned around, I kind of understand that, perhaps making a turn where we would in a car would be nearly impossible. Or, perhaps it was illegal to make a turn in a prior location, who am I to understand foreign traffic laws.

But when we turn around again and drive the same route, then you start thinking, perhaps he’s lost. But again, traffic conditions may sometimes dictate not being able to get into the proper lane in time, etc. Things we do in cars is far easier than in a bus. I understand.

But, then the thought creeps into your head again, is he lost?

We drove around this loop road, past a bus station, which I noted because parked in the back, near the rode was a burned out bus. You sort of note those kinds of things when you’re sitting on, well, a bus. A couple of turns later and we’re on another looping road…wait, there’s that burned out bus again.

He can’t be lost, he’s a professional bus driver hired by one of the top tour companies in the…wait, there’s that burned out bus again!

At this point, a guy sitting across from looks over, “Didn’t we just pass by here?”

“Yeah, that’s our third time.”

“Think he’s lost?”

“I have no idea…”

Finally, we made a different turn, we’re on to a new route which we hopefully won’t see two or three times. It took a little bit longer but eventually we pulled into the hotel courtyard. It was about a quarter past one, so we grabbed our bags, got our room assignments and made our way up to our rooms. We’d be meeting at 4 to have our initial meeting and to head out for an included dinner in town.

The room was a decent size with two twin beds in it. I was probably one of the last one’s to book the trip having decided rather late when to take it so while I paid the rate to share a room, there wasn’t another single male traveler on this particular trip. I dropped my bag onto the couch and dug through to find some nice clothes for the evening.

The first things I notice about the room are the window shades. A lot of houses in Rome will have metal shades that slide down and completely block out light, day or night. I found out later that Italians take siestas in the middle of the day and this makes it easier to sleep. I was in heaven, being that I enjoy sleeping in pitch black rooms. These were manual.

I also decided that I was going to photograph the rooms I was staying in. It’s always an interesting point of discussion the different styles and sizes of rooms from one country to another.

With a couple of hours until the welcome meeting, I took a shower to wash off the long plane trip and was able to sleep a little.

Next time, I make it down to the welcome meeting, head into town for a traditional roman dinner and see some classic cars.