Lost in Rome
November 15, 2024
Writer: Allie Perlman
Editor: Haley Gagerman
Last summer, I was invited, along with six others, to spend two weeks in Dubrovnik, Croatia at my friend Maya’s house. United Airlines is the only company with a direct flight from NYC to Dubrovnik, so I quickly booked it. I was scheduled to arrive in Dubrovnik at 9am on July 2nd, just a couple of hours behind my other friends taking connecting flights.
Flying alone is one of my favorite things; when you fly alone there are no parents asking what gate we are for the hundredth time and no little brother complaining about needing the window seat. As I walk through the airport preparing for another adventure, I quickly run-down a checklist of items: do I have TSA precheck on my boarding pass? Am I seated in an aisle? What is the most convenient coffee shop on my way from security to my gate? I take solace in the routine of the airport as I excitedly await my trip.
The day I flew to Dubrovnik was quite ordinary. I quickly moved through bag check, security, and boarding. I even struck the plane lottery of having an entire row to myself for the nine-hour flight; soon we were up in the air and I fell asleep. Everything seemed perfect as the pilot announced that we would be starting an initial descent. Then, the plane dipped below the clouds to see lightning striking Dubrovnik. The pilot quickly pulled up and announced that we were going to be diverted to Rome.
I landed in Rome at 11am, my parents home in New York, and blissfully unaware of my predicament. My plane was stuck on the tarmac for two hours until the flight attendant announced that we would not be taking off again until 10am the following morning. All I heard was that I had twenty-three hours alone in Rome and I was going to have an adventure.
Simply put, I am a massive control freak. I love to schedule my days to the hour and love the feeling of everything going to plan. I have been counting down the days until my Croatia trip for months, and the micro-manager in me was freaking out when my arrival was delayed. I am not just a control freak but someone with a love for adventure: these two sides of me were at war during my unexpected arrival in Rome. My goal for the last year has been to live in the moment, and this redirection almost seemed like the final exam - and I was determined to ace it. During my twenty-three hours in Rome, I let the adventurer and me win.
I was stuck in one of the cultural hotspots of the world and was going to make the most out of my time there. My hours were filled visiting the Trevi Fountain, eating pistachio gelato, and strolling past the Spanish Steps. I got a t-shirt with the coliseum on it to commemorate my journey. I lost the control freak in me while fully living in the moment.
The next morning I made my way back to the airport and eventually arrived in Dubrovnik with no further issues. My arrival meant that I could go back to my perfectly tailored itinerary and forget the chaos of my trip to get there. However, every time I see my coliseum t-shirt I am reminded to live in the moment and take a second to appreciate that now. My time in Rome taught me that life is messy and no matter how hard you plan, things do not always go the way they should. Part of life is realizing that chaos can be a beautiful thing and I will always thank Rome for teaching me that.
Image: Audrey Parker
