Tutor English to a Family in Italy

I've been home for 4 wks today, but I think of my trip everyday. I experienced so many wonderful things and saw so many cities that made the trip like a dream come true. My Italian family, made me part of their family and took excellent care of me. I fell in love with the family and know that I have made a connection with the family forever. I, in turn, was able to do some things for them, that I know they will never forget. Such as, treating them to their first, complete Thanksgiving feast before I left. I also painted them a picture while I was there and gifted it with personalization for them. I also have to thank my Italy connection, GeoVisions, because she they were so helpful to me navigating the first couple of weeks and kept in touch the whole time to make sure everything was going well. GeoVisions, like the family, was awesome. I'm ready to go back next year already!

Signing up to volunteer to teach English to a family in Italy was the best decision I've ever made in my life, no joke. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. It was everything I wanted out of this experience! I also could not have been placed with a better family! They we're AMAZING people and we still keep in touch! The family was extremely welcoming and I felt at home immediately! I am welcome back at any time! I am actually in the process of planning a trip back, hopefully permanently! I made so many friends! They were all more than happy to show me around their city, and introduce me to their friends and families as well! I keep in contact with many of them, and they are begging me to come back! Anytime I travel I always get suggestions of things to do from locals. I prefer this over touristy suggestions on the internet! It's a completely different and unique way to experience a city! I also suggest walking to most places at first, it helps you memorize landmarks and with becoming familiar with a city. By the end of my trip I was giving directions to people who needed help! It did take me about a week or so to get completely familiar with the European train systems, but the family was just a call away if I had any questions and were incredibly helpful. (If you are already familiar with New York train systems then this might be easier for you to figure out). After I became comfortable with the train system in Italy I was able to use other European train systems without any problems. Google Maps was also a huge help in telling me exactly which train I needed to be on. I would also like to add that I am a solo female traveler and had no issues with safety. I flew, took busses, and trains to other countries by myself, and I would do this a million times over! Traveling solo as a female was a very freeing and empowering feeling. You can learn a lot about yourself, you realize you can do absolutely anything you want to do. I encourage more woman to try more experiences like this, and not let fear hold you back from creating some amazing memories and building confidence! Thank you GeoVisions for providing opportunities like this and pairing me with an amazing family who will be part of my life forever!

Just be open to the experience and all it has to offer. There are days of frustration, nervousness, anxiety but those days don’t outweigh the absolutely amazing days. Give yourself time to adjust and once you do you’ll have an amazing time and learn so many different things. I’ve been here for two months and I already can see how much I’ve grown as a person. I do a lot of things that I’d never do back home and it’s all thanks to rolling with the punches and being open to all the possibilities of living abroad. I’ve been to a few places since I got here in March. Pisa, Lucca, Bologna and I want to visit Venice and Milan very soon. Traveling by train is very easy to do in Italy, just always remember to validate your ticket before boarding the train, it’s very important if you don’t it can result in a fine. Outside of most train stations, there are tourist centers where they provide you with a map and a quick overview of the city that’s extremely helpful because it shows you the main points of the city etc. While traveling try to eat in the not so tourist areas, they are usually not as crowded and the food is amazing. Every time I walk around Florence I discover something new. Italy has so much history. There are always new things to see. I also took language courses which helped me learn more about the country. Learning the language and its history was very important to me. I just try to make the most of everyday. Back home I’d spend my days off having lazy days etc. I try very hard not to do that here because I know that the time goes by quicker than you think. So anytime I have a free day or an afternoon. I’m out exploring, traveling doing something. I want to make the most of this experience so I try to minimize my lazy days unless I really need one.