In early 2013 I was furious with myself. Years of "playing around" with Italian but never really committing. I had nothing to show for it but a handful of words, books and study aids. Nothing more. If I'd taken it seriously, taken myself seriously, back in 1999 when I first started, where would I be now?

I made myself a proposition: one year, daily effort and at the end of it, I'd keep going, or let it go.

A year later, I was still far from where I wanted to be, but better than I was before. I kept going.

Enter Andrea from Milano. His was the very first of several Italian friendships I was soon to develop.  Now, I was content studying at home alone, but Andrea refused to allow me to settle for just that. 

It had never occurred to me to go to Italy. I had no intentions of doing so. But Andrea encouraged me to see his country with my own eyes and experience the language in its home.

In 2015 I did just that.  

I now enjoy studying Italian with the hope of returning to Italy now and then, and seeing how much I have grown and how much more I need to grow.

Below is a visual journal documenting my recent trip in 2025.