Hey Travel Boss,

So I am so glad to host my first blog post of 2020 about where else but my recent adventures to Italy! Rome is filled with history, beautiful art, buildings, and statues but the proximity to good food and centrally located, reasonably priced hotels..not so much. So come with your pocketbook ready as my granny would say! I do suggest staying near city Center. One thing that worked well for me was the shuttle bus from our hotel. It had diffrent times that it would go to downtown or the city center for only 1.5 euros. Let me tell you catching this shuttle versus catching the city bus is worth every penny. I wishhhh I could have got my camera out fast enough to show yall how packed these buses where going on certain routes. I literally saw a guy adjust his body while his face was smushed to the window to ensure the bus door closed..I promise I can’t make this up. A can of sardines could neverrr compare to the tightness of some of these bus. Now understand this was in January during off season so I can’t imagine how crazy it would be in regular season. While some other buses where fine I wouldn’t advice of this as a transportation option; between being smashed & the risk of pickpocketing I decided to go for the hotel shuttle route. I had such an amazing time hoping islands, trying new foods, and meeting so many new people while taking every effort to use my Spanish and French mini phrases. So with that begining said let me tell you in Italy some parts only use Italian I learned that the hard way🤦‍♀️, but Rome is a big city if you ask enough people someone speaks English. Let’s hoop on in and dig into my 8 day getaway while only using 28 hours of PTO.

Work Hard, Don’t Stop Til You Own It- Beyonce

As a Entrepreneur, Travel Enthusiasts, & Full Time Corporate chick I know sometimes balancing work life balence can be a challenge. I take every, and when I say Everyyyyyy opportunity to maximize my time and save PTO just know I’m not taking maximize lately. So, if your first challenge is getting days off work your best option is to utilize those holidays paid times off to blend with your requested days. Knowing alot of people are always taking of for Christmas I decided to take that opportunity to work extra hours by doing 12hr shifts and saving my holiday days to be applied to my Vacation as holiday. Working extra shifts, covering holidays you don’t travel, and stacking your Holidays paid off with your PTO can be life changing..and that’s exactly what I did. I picked up a 12hr shift the Sunday before my vacation plus a 12hr shift Monday prior to me leaving for NYE on Tuesday. I also added a 12hr Saturday after my Vacation, used my 8hr Paid holiday for New Year’s day, and worked the Friday after my return. I ain’t going to lie a sister was tired, but it was so worth it to save some PTO. When I got on the plane you can GUARANTEE I was sleep 90% of the flight. 😂

When in Rome, Do as Romans Do..

So outside of transportation getting to areas, let me be sure to tell you to wear your comfy shoes. I am one to often bring a cute, chunky heel, comfortable shoe on every trip, let me tell you this it stayed in that bag all but 1 day. And the day I did wore them I tiptoed the entire time. To say the least, Those cobblestone roads are not tor the faint at heart. Y’all those dang streets almost took out my dad! All I remember is seeing him stumble on one of those broken up cobblestone sidewalks potholes, try to catch his balance, just to finish the stumbling into oncoming traffic. Child, luckily the lady driving in the car that he almost fell on top of thought that she was being robbed so she stoppeped in fear in the midst of everything and just threw her hands up, like she was in a stick up robbery😂. Yall to see that lady face…smh. From then on we made sure to stay in plenty of distance away from the edge of those curbs. Advice 2: Every thing that those street sellers are trying to sell is negotiatable like at minimum 50% blow price. Shop strategically and know if you talk to them, & don’t buy they will haunt you down until you do. So either decide I’m buying or I’m not and move with confirmation. Also those bracelets they give ain’t really free. I think they got this trick from the CD pushers who would say here, listen to my tape, Me: get the tape him: I’m asking for a donation of $10, me: Mane, get this CD. Also with that being said these people clearly are not supposed to be just setting up shop but you know me I like to support the people, & I like good deals so after 2 hours of them trying to haggle me I finally gave in. Just as i devided to purchase I hear the young watcher yell Poliza, the man literally grab his backpack and was gone and 5 secs. No lie the fastest set up amd breakdown I’ve ever seen . So take my advice don’t be about that life unless your 100%committed to an item you love that they have. So with that being said my favorite gift shop was a little shop outside the Vatican. It had reasonable price gifts, the owner spoke broken english, I could use my credit card, and he offered hop on hop off tours. Just down the way was a smalll cafe with good food at great prices. Make it a priority tk check this off your list and grab some Vatican stamps, its super cool to receive in the mail. While there we got a chance to shop a local Sunday Market, see the Colosseum, the Vatican, Fountain of Trive, a few cathedrals, and even got a chance to dive in some holiday shopping as there christmas Holiday season does end until the first week of Jan. So those 50% of sales where amazing!!! Check out my YouTube channel: Kizz My Passport for the looks! Every corner is filled with art, beautiful fou tains, and architecture so I can’t even begin to explain where to go but, keep your camera ready and stay ready you will get sick of taking pictures before you can get sick of seeing amazing post and selfie worth artwork. Overall, was amazing and I definitely suggest a 7 to 10 days here minimum to explore all that it has to offer and some of its nearby cities such as Naples, Amalfi Coast, Florence, Paris, Piza, Bari, Nice, and more. On my next post I will share some additional stops I made along the way and share with you if It was a Bust or Must! Stay tuned with us on Instagram/Facebook/Youtube on Kizz My Passport! Please feel free to email any questions [email protected] Ciao!