I recently went on a month long vacation to Rome. This was known to many people. I wasn't shy about mentioning it. I made a rather enthusiastic fuss of it in the year leading up to it. I included more than a hundred people in postcards that I sent from there. And, since my return, at my library job, I find ways to say "Oh, I was recently in Rome on vacation" seven or eight times a day. As in "You're checking out a travel book to Italy? I was just in Rome a couple months ago!" Or "Yes, the weather has really been frightful lately. It was much warmer in Rome, where I was on vacation a couple months ago." Or "The bathrooms are out in the lobby. Or as they say in Rome 'I bagni sono a sinistra.' I was just in Rome on vacation. Sorry."
But if there is one thing I have learned about all this talking about vacation it is this:
When someone enthusiastically corners you and says "Oh my God, you were in Rome for a month! I want to hear all about it. Tell me everything!" what they are really saying is:
"I would really really really like to tell you about the fantastic four day trip I took to Florence a few years ago!"
Which brings up the other thing I have learned. It is best to go on these sorts of trips for one's own personal pleasure. Fortunately, with a bit of practice, this is manageable.
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