California Dreamin’

Hello to all of my lovely friends and followers. So, remember how like a month and a half ago I started eluding to this big surprise and then I subsequently left you all hanging on, desperately wondering what I could possibly have planned? Oh, you forgot did you? You didn’t even know I had plans?? Some followers. Nevermind.

No, okay, I’m only kidding. If you didn’t want to know then you can move on but if you were desperately waiting… okay fine, if you were waiting to find out what my plan was; here it is.

Lorenzo and I will be spending the summer in the United States.

Then we plan on moving on to Australia (again).

My uber-Americanized Italian boyfriend has never been to the United States in his life. It has also been two years of me blabbing on and on about this guy to my friends and family. But they only know him through the skype screen.

I’m not revealing the exact dates just yet because we haven’t booked everything. But it is officially official. This Wayward Traveller is finally hitting the road after almost letting herself become an expat yet again.

Serial expat-ism. Is that a thing? I think I’m going to coin it because that’s what I’m about to become.

In case you don’t know the story (because I haven’t told it yet); Lorenzo and I met in Australia and now we are heading back to the beginning. I plan to get my working holiday visa while he is going to get a student visa and finally study something that he wants to make into a career.

Now it’s time for the fun part where I ask you all for suggestions and if you are going to ever be in the same city as us. If you plan on being in the US this summer anytime from June-August, let us know! We want to meet you! If you are going to be in Australia after that, we want to meet you!

We plan to visit New York, Boston, Seattle, –Spokane and the Tri-Cities (family there)– and then we are crossing our fingers to have a chance to travel in some way down the coast, stopping in Oregon to stay with my mom and then on to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

I don’t know that the reality has exactly hit us yet since we have been talking about this pretty much since I arrived. Originally, once I got my visa we were still planning on leaving at the end of that six months (that would have been November 2010). I renewed my visa because I got this great job and we have stuck around, but now we feel like it’s time to move on and explore more of the world.

Once we start preparing I will include some of the fun we are having and as the dates get closer and things get confirmed, I’ll reveal those exactly as well.

Even after a year and a half in Italy there are still things I must do before I leave. I’ve been writing a pre-departure Italy bucket list in my head, so eventually I’ll get that down on paper.

Do you have any suggestions for things I must do before I leave Italy? Please leave your suggestions for things to see in the United States as well!