This past week I was incredibly lucky to check something off my bucket list – visit Italy. My wife, kids, brother and his family, and Mom all packed up to explore Rome, Florence, and Venice.
With varying levels of abilities covering ground to see these magnificent cities, my goal was to get hotel locations that would make key attractions accessible for all family members. Interestingly enough, as we explored as much of the cities we could, it seemed GPS often populated .6 miles to the next destiny.
- Meeting point to enter in the Accademia Museum to see the statue of David: .6 miles
- Explore Piazza della Repubblica: .6 miles
- View the famous Trevi Fountain: .6 miles
- See the San Marco square: .6 miles
- Distance from the train station to our Venice hotel: .6 miles
One of my favorite parts of exploring Italy is how drastically different these .6-mile experiences others were. The terrain, views, people we encountered, spaces we saw, degree of difficulty it took walk, the history we encountered – all so unique.
To see David, we weaved through an area outside the Uffizi Museum to then pass by one of the most magnificent churches I’ve ever seen to eventually reach the museum. All the while navigating in between a barrage of tourists experiencing Florence on bumpy but beautiful stone roads (luckily my mom still survived the trip with her walker to see Michelangelo’s incredible art).
The trip from the Venice train station to our hotel encountered countless steps up over each beautiful bridge overarching the canals. Lugging 7 suitcases and my mom’s walker proved to be a logistical challenge. Yet each time we stopped, we would look around and see what may be the most unique and beautiful city I’ve ever seen. Each turn took us down a different part of a sidewalk maze that connects each part of the city.
As we reflect on the paths each of us have taken and will embark on in the future, our journeys are made up of its own .6-mile sections. Some feel like we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders while others we stride gracefully on a sunny day. Each part of our journey is meant to be unique. It’s meant to give us a different experience filled with different people, different scenery, and a variety of obstacles to encounter. Much of it will be unexpected, both in a good and bad way. But all to embrace and learn from.
Rome, Florence, and Venice are so different from one another and unique from any other destination I’ve been to. While I did months of research for the trip, I never really understood what these cities would bring until I embraced each one. And each .6 mile provided new experiences and with the new experiences comes just a little more perspective on what I want my journey to be.
Most importantly, no matter what made up the .6-mile part of the journey, I made sure to take time to enjoy the scenery. Because each of our .6-mile journeys, whether in vacation mode or through some of our toughest moments or even our simple everyday experiences, will have a view worth looking up and soaking in. Not because everything is a beautiful smooth path, but because we just made another .6 miles that have never been experienced before.
A .6-mile journey may seem small and insignificant by itself, but the smaller journeys combine for an incredible accumulation of perspective. If we invite in all these moments .6 miles at a time, we create a plethora of experiences that continue to build our perspective. Our perspective can continue to expand and help us embrace so much more of the journey ahead.
Cheers to each .6-mile journey we have. And no matter if you feel like you’re on a .6-mile journey, 6 mile journey, or 6,000 mile journey, embrace the uniqueness each section brings. With these experiences comes perspective on how we can help create our next .6-mile part of the journey.
Ciao!
Take your step: take time to reflect on how you embrace each .6-mile journey (pick the distance for you). Are you taking in what each .6-mile brings you or are you too focused on the next leg of the trip? Embrace what the .6-mile journey brings – it has something to teach you if you’re listening.