After what felt like many days spent in the quiet village of Cisterna going to the pool and overeating Bufala and tomatoes, today I took a trip down to Naples to explore. It is amazing how little you can do in one day when you have a relaxed attitude. I remember the days of family vacations, everything tightly scheduled, and by the end, being so exhausted that I could barely stay awake at dinner. I’m sure this is what my parents wanted; Dad has admitted it many times now.

Waiting in line at the Napoli Sotterranea I overheard some American girls talking. After several complaints about the heat (it was a very sweaty day, I’ll admit), one of the girls excused the group for their attitudes by saying, “it is the end of a long week of vacation, we are all exhausted.”

I remember thinking that vacation was exhausting as a kid (because it was; Dad tricked us into racing everywhere) but part of it was that it seemed stressful for the adults. Planning and executing.

When I heard the girls thinking vacation was exhausting, it sounded odd to me. Once I started planning my own trips, vacation started meaning freedom for me, and therefore has been energizing. I would return home excited for where I would go next.

I wandered off of the train today at Napoli Centrale without a plan. I walked until I was thoroughly sweaty, then found the Sotterrano. I met someone from the Navajo reservation where I had lived for several years there, which was a fun coincidence. She didn’t have a plan either, so we wandered about eating cannoli, drinking far too sweet lemon slushies and then taking a recommendation from a man on the street for where to get pizza. We chatted with the waiter (and both received sweaty kisses on the cheek from him) and enjoyed becoming sweatier from consuming more bread and cheese. Then I went to the train and now I am riding it home.

All of that (or those few activities) took 7 hours. I did so little in such a large span of time, but I felt energized by the experience. To wander without feeling a need to do anything in particular is such a different way to enjoy a day in a new place. Believe me, I love accomplishing things and seeing a lot, but I feel like I did a lot today, just in a different way. The difference is that I didn’t feel any lack or disappointment, and I felt at peace (except in the last few minutes when none of the workers at the station could tell me if the train I wanted to take existed or not).

The experience has left me with a very positive opinion of Naples. People were everywhere enjoying the city and it felt very safe. It was full of life, light and color. All I did was walk around, but it had a much different feeling than other cities I’ve been to. I was quite occupied with just being in the light stream of people and looking at every gelato place, but not eating any (I did one healthy thing today). The best part: walking has become a new way of vacationing for me. In a way, it is more like being than doing, and I’m happy with that.

Update: I got off of the train and my Zia said, “do you want gelato?”…so I did nothing healthy today.