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Italy was lonely. That's the feeling I remember first when I think back to it. Italy was lonely, and for the first time in a long time, I was alone. Without the constant support and interaction from all of my family and friends, I often wondered if going to Italy for three months to tutor English was worth it. Who was I without them really? I was just a girl from Newfoundland. Milan, Italy was not Newfoundland. People were busier, the world was faster, and the streets were much older, more ancient than anything in the city of St. John's, Newfoundland. While in Italy, I visited Rome and while strolling through the Roman Forum, I had a sense of intense connection with the world around me. People had lived in Rome, worked in Rome, and loved in Rome for centuries, and people still would after I was long gone. There is something about being in a place that is ancient that makes you feel small in the world, and this was a feeling that was frightening in a way, but in other ways, it helped awaken something in me. The world existed and would keep on existing even when I didn't. Life goes on in Rome, in Milan, in Venice, even when I am back in Newfoundland, walking in the streets of a city that often feels empty now. So in Italy I felt lonely, and in Italy I felt connected. It's a contradiction, but feelings often contradict each other. Loneliness is something I can deal with now, better than before. I found confidence and freedom in being by myself, that I never would have experienced if I didn't make that leap to travel and work abroad. And I found a connection with the world that I otherwise would never have felt if I never left the safety net of my Island. So I won't lie. Italy was not always easy. Sometimes when walking the busy streets in Milan alone, or taking in the quiet of a small attic hotel room in Venice, the loneliness would consume me, and tears would come. I remember those feelings but also remember the sense of wonder, joy, and connection I felt. Italy was worth it. It was worth the debt I accumulated, and the uncertainty, and the loneliness. I feel as though travel often is. At any rate, there's no amount of loneliness that cannot be cured by a scoop of freshly made Italian Gelato, regardless, and that's one hundred percent true.