When I traveled to Italy for the Viticulture and Enology program, it was the second study abroad program that I had entered. The first study abroad trip that I went on was a very supervised group trip. When in Italy we were given free days to travel on our own. It was nice to be able to have freedom to make my own decisions about traveling throughout Italy. I did a lot of research and reading of blog posts before deciding where to travel on my free days. I highly recommend planning before traveling so that way you can see as much as possible with the free time that you have. I also recommend using the limited free days that you have to travel instead of staying at the dorms. Many places that you visit offer special student deals which allows you to see a ton of historical places with very little cost to you. You will be tired on your free days. When I say tired, I mean very tired but you never know if you will be able to visit again so push through the exhaustion and make sure that every minute counts. What I found from traveling on my free days is that the “fun” places aren’t always the most rewarding places. There was a huge since of joy that came from traveling to many historic landmarks that played a huge part of shaping Italy into the country that it is today. I am very grateful that I chose to get in touch with some local and national Italian culture while I was abroad. To be able to learn first hand about major events and places that I have only read about in books was incredible. Take the first step and go outside of your comfort zone. Travel the country, do some learning, fall in love with the history, and go see a duomo or four.