"I never used to know what kind of pizza I liked. A small but strangely telling detail about my life. I was always the adult ordering for me and my four sons - usually an extra-large cheese, maybe pepperoni if I felt wild. Economical crowd-pleasers. Perfect for our family, and for a single mom who didn't have the time to think about her own preferences."
"Of course, it was more than that. I'd romanticized long stretches in Europe for years. I used to dream about Italy and France when I was deep in the trenches of motherhood, when a trip to the grocery store felt like an expedition, and the school parking lot was as far as I ever got. Europe felt impossibly distant from our small town. At that point in my life, even getting to the airport felt too far."
"Determined not to let fear stop me, I booked my first flight to Rome with my tax return. I packed my laptop so I could work remotely, a blessing that meant I could rent a place of my own. First, a tiny studio in the old town of Tivoli, just outside Rome. Then a month in Avignon in the south of France. Then Belfast in Northern Ireland. My choices were based almost entirely on friends' recommendations and the cheapest monthly Airbnbs I could find."
A single mother raised four sons while prioritizing economical, crowd-pleasing choices and rarely considering personal preferences. After the youngest left for college, a long solo move to Europe became a chance to explore personal tastes and identity. The move lasted six months across Italy, France, and Northern Ireland and included stays in a Tivoli studio, a month in Avignon, and time in Belfast. Remote work allowed renting separate places. Booking began with a flight to Rome paid from a tax return. Initial travel selections relied on friends' recommendations and affordable monthly Airbnbs. Fear of staying put motivated the decision to go.
Read at Business Insider
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