Marsh Travels

We’ve taken countless trains and buses over the past couple of days, so my mind is a little foggy. At Genoa Airport, after one train, one bus, and two mad dashes, I completely forgot where we were headed and at the airport check in, I asked if my bag was going all the way to LA or if I needed to claim it in Boston. “LA?! Signora, you’re going to Palermo.”

Our flight from Genoa to Rome left really late, so they told us while in the air that we would miss our next fight…but when landed, the staff member had a sign telling us which gate to go to and she said “Run! It’s far but you might make it.” So we ran fifty gates and discovered that flight was also delayed and we made it!!! I was shocked that our bags made it with us! A miracle.

We’re in Sicily now and excited about the food and the culture and the beauty.

We’re in a very nice AirBnB right in the center of all the historical sites of Palermo, overlooking Piazza San Domenico.

In the U.S., traveling is simple: you hop in your car, follow directions on your phone, and you’re on your way. Easy. I love public transportation, though, and I wish the U.S. had better trains and subways. But figuring out public transit when we travel always feels like a big puzzle.

Today, we found the bus stop at a sports bar. Is this really it? There’s no sign. It doesn’t look like a bus stop. Oh, well. We wait, and soon our bus arrives… and drives right past us. Were we supposed to signal it to stop?

Okay. The next bus arrives in 15 minutes. This time, some other tourists arrive just before it does—they already have tickets. Are we supposed to buy tickets beforehand? Turns out, yes. We try to get on the bus, and sure enough, there’s no visible way to pay. Luckily, a kind man helps us download an app and buy tickets onboard.

It’s a lot of work, but in the end, it’s worth it. We connected with the locals and felt a great sense of accomplishment. We did it!

One thing I was really looking forward to was simply wandering, sitting down to enjoy a coffee, and not having a list of sights to check off. We spent a delightful, leisurely hour in Santa Margherita Ligure doing just that.

Then we had a gorgeous 1 1/2 hour walk along the coast to Portofino. Last time I came here I took a bus, and I’m really glad I walked it this time.

Jim and I have been watching Hotel Portofino on Amazon, and it was fun to recognize the places from the show. Portofino is a small, picturesque town popular with the wealthy, made famous by various Hollywood stars in the 1960s. It’s magnificent—truly beautiful.

We had a nice meal watching the fishermen and the tourists.

More wandering. More eating.

We are staying in Rapallo, which we chose because of its central location, and it also has a lot of charm.

We are having so much fun and I feel like I’m in a dream every day here.

I like seeing new things, but there’s also a special comfort in returning to old favorites. The little towns along the Ligurian coast are charming and bring back great memories.

We had breakfast in adorable Camogli. isn’t it cute?

Then we took the train to Nervi, also adorable.

Six years ago I started taking online Italian lessons with this amazing and fun teacher in Genoa, Italy. Two years ago I spent six weeks in Genoa attending her language school. We’ve become “buoni amici.” She came back from Tokyo last night, but was still willing to get together with me and play in person. We shared travel stories, commiserated about the US election, talked in two languages and dreamed of future travel. (Uzbekistan? Sri Lanka? South America?) It was a truly special time.

Here you can order an aperitivo and the glass of wine will come with more than ten little delicious snacks. (Better than Spanish tapas!)

My friends from Palo Alto recommended the stunning Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, a beautiful church built within the ancient Roman baths.

After visiting, I met up with Jim at the Rome train station—he had just been cycling in Orvieto! We flew to Genoa, then took a bus and a train to Rapallo, where we are now.

Here are a few food photos. I’ve been so hungry, and the food is so delicious that I usually finish it before remembering to take a picture! As my friend Kim L. says “Italy has cheese that will make you cry.”

Travel days are always a little stressful—figuring out how to get to the station or the airport, and then the waiting, and then navigating a new place is good for my brain. It all worked out fine, but it’s a lot of mental and physical energy. It’s hard work. I love the sense of accomplishment when we unlock the door of our AirBnB after a long day of travel.

Most of the teachers I’m traveling with have been to Rome before, so instead of revisiting the Vatican or the Colosseum, we explored the Capitoline Museums on Capitoline Hill—one of the world’s oldest public museums, filled with art and relics from ancient Rome. We had a fantastic guide who brought the museum to life, sharing insights on the statues, frescoes, and ruins. The highlight, though, was stepping out of the museum at golden hour to an incredible view of the Roman Forum, bathed in warm light—it was a truly breathtaking moment.

Although we don’t talk much about the pandemic when we’re with friends, five years later the topic still inevitably comes up when I meet someone new. Italy was hit early and hard by COVID. Our tour director, who’s in her forties, shared how she was on a trip and ended up separated from her family for three weeks in an unfamiliar city. When Italy announced the lockdown, it began immediately, giving people no time to return home. Despite the pandemic’s negative impact on our lives, it’s interesting to hear about the blessings people found and how they coped: from Zoom cooking classes to learning new skills like dancing or painting, and the unforgettable sense of community—like people singing together and banging pots to honor health workers.

I’m thoroughly enjoying the company of my new friends here—20 teachers from all over the U.S., with me as the only Californian in the group. They share my love for students, travel, and the desire to learn more about adult travel. Although I’m generally not a fan of group travel, which I feel can sometimes detract from the beauty of destinations, I’m really impressed by EF’s approach. Their emphasis on community, intentionality, and personal connections makes this experience feel unique. It’s been inspiring to learn more about their company, their thoughtfully planned trips, and the care they put into every detail. The reason they can offer authentic incredible experiences is because their staff, (of over 60,000 people), actually live in these countries.

Rome is always a fascinating place to visit, and being here with wonderful people makes it even better. There’s no shortage of history, art, and amazing food—Rome certainly has all of that in abundance. Yet, even after seven visits, I still don’t feel that special fondness. It just doesn’t spark that immediate connection or charm I feel in cities like Paris or Barcelona. Rome is unique and impressive, but for me, it doesn’t quite have the same magic.

That said, I’ve enjoyed wandering through the lively streets and discovering sights I’ve never seen before. Instead of the Vatican or the Colosseum, which I’ve visited many times, I’m exploring new neighborhoods and a fantastic local bakery recommended by our local guide.

I love traveling so much, and I’m entering a new chapter of life: traveling with adults. I’m working with EF—the same company that organized my student trips. Their mission isn’t about making money; it’s “to increase peace and understanding in the world through education and international travel.” The experiences they offer aren’t your typical tourist attractions but rather authentic immersive experiences that locals genuinely enjoy.

In February, I’m leading a group of adults—mostly close friends—on a trip to Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. It’s a fantastic group, and I’m excited for the journey ahead. As part of my preparation, EF (the travel company) offered me a free training trip to Rome. Naturally, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit Italy! I’ll be catching up with a dear friend in Genoa, exploring Cinque Terre, and discovering new places. After the training, Jim will join me for the rest of the trip, where he’s planning some great bike rides outside of Orvieto. We’ll reunite afterward to continue our Italian adventure together.

I spent the night in Los Angeles. We bought a condo with our daughter Kelly in Culver City. It came with two secure underground parking spaces, and is only 15 minutes from the airport. I made two runs to LAX yesterday to drop Kelly and Jim off for their trips.

One of the greatest values of travel is its power to ease anxiety. I’ve often told my students that overcoming anxiety requires stepping into uncomfortable situations and staying there until they become familiar. Travel brings its own share of uncertainties, pushing us out of our comfort zones. But the more you visit new places, learn to live out of a suitcase, try unfamiliar foods, hear new languages, and embrace a little bit of chaos, the more comfortable you become with the unknown. Over time, this builds resilience, making us more adaptable and at ease with life’s unpredictability.

Another complication of this trip has been the wildfire in Ventura. Our neighborhood was under an evacuation warning. I had already left, but my neighbors were gathering their belongings, preparing to flee the fire. I worried about my beautiful quilts and Jim’s incredible photographs. Now we’re out of danger, but my heart aches for friends who have lost their homes.

Today we did the whole east side of the island where all the main sites are. It’s just astounding to think about the amount of technology needed to carve the Moai statues into the side of the mountain, (and they had the assembly line hundreds of years before Henry Ford), release them, transport with cranes (advanced for the time), put finishing touches on them, and then move them miles and miles across the land. It’s hard to wrap your mind around it.

Rapa Nui’s airport is the most remote in the world. The closest airport is over 2600 kilometers away, but there are no flights there. You have to fly through Santiago Chile.

It’s a baby tourist industry. I just assumed that because I know many people who have gone there that it was more like Hawaii or Jamaica….but a lot of the systems are not ready for prime time. In the winter it’s not hard to find a place to stay, but in the summer, there aren’t enough hotels and restaurants and coffee shops and rental car companies and guides. It takes a lot of infrastructure. And yet, everyone we have interfaced with has gone above and beyond to be kind to us…our AirBnB host gushes his thankfulness that we came. (Even though we changed our dates because of the delayed flight. “No problem.”) The residents greet us warmly on the street with their version of “Aloha” (Iorana)

The thing about island culture, is that it can be very “Don’t worry, be happy”, but, for instance, when you are supposed to be picked up for a tour at 9 o’clock and aren’t picked up till 10:30 it seems like a waste of an hour and a half. When the tour van finally arrived, in the car were our friends from the plane! On our tour! We had such a fun day with them.

We did the whole west side of the island today. During  period of time before 1600 (when the Maoi statues were being built), the Rapa Nui people had a very advanced culture. I thought the big heads were mostly decorative art or a spiritual expression, but they also are astronomical, like Stonehenge. The placement also served as information about migratory birds, wind direction, and good fishing. It’s clear they had knowledge of trigonometry. Additionally, they had advanced farming methods, which involved growing plants in caves, so they were protected from the salty winds.

The architecture of their homes was also quite advanced, using techniques that even modern architects use now to save energy. Because the island was so small they had to have an advanced knowledge of genealogy to prevent interbreeding. We scrambled over rocks and down holes into deep caves, and we’re amazed at all the ways they had adapted to the land.

There is only one flight per day to Rapa Nui, and you can only get there from Santiago, Chile. During the pandemic there were NO flights. This island, which had become so dependent on tourism was in grave danger. Then something magical happened. The community of 3,000 people pulled together. “I have a boat and can fish.” “I have a chicken house and plenty of eggs.” “I know a lot about row crops.” “My bakery has plenty of flour for now.” Everyone we talked to says this time turned the island into a kind, tight-knit self sufficient society.

One of the purposes of the statues was that they were ancestor spirits, who were supposed to be watching over them. In the 1600s when people from off the island were exploiting them and taking them as slaves, and there was a lack of resource on the island, they were angry with their spirit gods and knocked them all down.

Yesterday a sweet Chilean woman and her husband befriended me and told me what was going on. Because it was a domestic flight, none of the announcements were in English, and the Spanish here is fast and slurred (especially over the loud speaker.) We were in the van together, and had dinner at the hotel together. This morning we met for breakfast and we walked to a tall tower to get pictures. I feel like we’ve known each other forever. Going through misery connected us. In fact ALL the passengers on the flight feel a camaraderie. We greet each other in the hotel and hug on the street. And they always ask if I’ve received my missing suitcase yet. (No.)

Being in the posh hotel in the upper class neighborhood gave us a very different feeling in Santiago than our AirBnB. This area feels touristy and removed from actual Chileans. I’m so thankful for this brief respite. The hotel is so beautiful and I’m surrounded by great new friends. And the huge hotel breakfast was incredible. We were able to change all of our airline tickets and our Airbnb and our guide so that we could stay one day longer on the island, coming home, one day later than planned.

The official name for Easter Island is Rapa Nui, but if you call it that nobody knows what you are talking about, except the people who live there.

On our five hour flight to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Jim and I each had a row of three seats all to ourselves. Since it was a special, added flight there weren’t that many people and the flight staff had plenty of time to meet our needs. When we landed on the island at 11pm, we were greeted with flowered leis and big welcome signs. It was interesting to see 100 Rapa Nui residents standing at the gate with signs, because everyone coming to Rapa Nui needed a driver to get from the airport.

At our Airbnb, the lock was broken and we spent half an hour trying to get into our room. Finally, the driver crawled through a very small window in the kitchen and let us in. It was late and we were so tired.