The New New Thing

There's so much to say and report from my short time thus far in Boston. But, lucky you, I'm going to save the stories of the bus system for some other day. I will say, though, it's my only gripe (and a small one at that). This is a very cool town with a lot going on...and there is a lot of good energy all around. It might snow a lot here, but the sun shines like it does in Colorado, can't complain.

The best part of the whole thing is that I'm working and thrilled to do it every day at Ciclismo Classico. I wasn't sure how I'd feel going back to work after so long of not being in an office...except for the bike tours that I led in Italy (which were each fabulous experiences--the most fulfilling work I'd done in a very, very long time). I could be doing CRM work like I was doing before I took off for Italy (they're still hiring like mad in that area); but I love my job, this company in particular, and am very happy to be in the active travel industry.

Part of my job is marketing, the other part is sales. I don't have experience in either one, but I plan to prove that if one has the passion, it's possible to be successful and have a heck of a lot of fun in the process. I've gotten familiar with the itineraries and the amazing places we go...the learning curve is a different kind of animal in an industry such as this one! The opportunities to be creative are numerous (yeeeesss!) And in sales: I feel great when I sell a trip. I know what cool memories people are buying; they last a lifetime and never get rusty or lose their value. Each is a true investment in happiness, health and in relationships--old and new.

I'll be generating a lot of content (writing, yea!) for the Ciclismo site, but I will try to do better about posting here, too. I'm still not doing a great job at keeping in touch with my friends or family as much as I should (sorry guys!) but now that I found something that keeps me up at night with excitement, I want to take advantage of the momentum.

Let's just take a moment to remember what started everything...my original trip with Ciclismo as a guest to Italy. Aaaaahhhh...how sweet it is to reminisce!

Hope this finds you well. Ci vediamo presto qui! (See you here soon!)

Italy Wrap-Up, Christmas, Beantown

There have been a million things that have happened since the last blog post and there's no way, if I hope to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, to mention even a fraction of everything. To make a long story short, I returned from Italy just before Christmas, enjoyed a few days of pre-Christmas jet lag and Christmas light gawking (homes in Italy might have a couple of Christmas decorations, nothing like it is in the States). I did get to see the huge Gubbio Christmas tree in all of its splendor before leaving Italy, that was pretty cool and I have yet to see a picture that does the sight justice.

The last three to four weeks in Italy were difficult emotionally. I was missing home (my US home and family) a lot, but those emotions were mixed in with the impending melancholy of leaving the new "family" and friends who had become very much a part of my life while still trying to enjoy every last moment there. It's impossible to describe, and there were definitely good times during that period, but it allowed me to see a new side of myself and look at everyone in my life in a different light.

Christmas was wonderful and fun...Christmas eve was celebrated by eating cannoli first thing in the morning and attending evening mass. Being able to celebrate Christmas with my family almost altogether was wonderful, it was a huge table filled with great food--and much of the food had been brought over from Italy. We even had a Christmas prosciutto which was a particularly special gift...that was the first time for the family to have a ham adorn the table. The day after Christmas, I was greeted by a full-on cold that kept me from doing anything for a few more days. Then I tried squeezing in all of the visiting I could (I missed people I really wish I hadn't and I feel bad about that), but it was all of the time that I had and it was time to pack and begin 2011 in a whole new way. Stories from Boston, yes BOSTON! will be here shortly.

What's most interesting about this is I can draw many parallels to moving out here (since I don't know much about it) to when I arrived in Italy. And, when there's more time, maybe I'll expound on that a bit more. Time to finally get back to speaking Italian.

Cheers to a happy, healthy and successful 2011 for all!