Ciao! For those of you who have been following Josh and I for a bit, you’ll know that we are currently living out of a hotel in Italy while he settles into his new job and we wait to move into a house and get a car. Hotel life can be stressful and it can be easy to get a severe case of cabin fever when you have limited ways to get out and about. Josh and I have been in the hotel for three weeks now and are looking at another month until we move. We are having to stay in a hotel for this length of time due to the housing process. We’re still getting used to coping with this, but here are some tips on surviving living without having a place to call your own.
One thing that Josh and I have been doing a lot of is learning more about the Italian culture. We have both downloaded Duolingo on our phones so that we can learn Italian. We also have a hand full of travel books that we have been searching though to learn more about where to go in Naples and how to get around on the public transit.
1. Find a Way to Make Your Hotel More Like a Home
One of the hardest things about staying long term in a hotel is that it doesn’t feel like a place of your own. We are lucky to be in an extended stay hotel that has a small kitchenette, and for us this has made a world of difference from the typical hotel stay. The first thing that we did once we got in the hotel was unpack our suitcase and made a quick trip to get a few groceries. I love ending each day cooking dinner, so it’s been helpful to have a kitchen and cook meals that make Italy feel a little more like the States.
2. Get Active!
Josh and I try to lead an active lifestyle, but we have times where we work out more than other times. We are lucky enough to have a good gym close to us so we can still keep up with our (minimal) workout routines. There are days where we don’t feel like working out, which we all have, but we make sure that we at least get out and walk around for thirty minutes. Especially on days where Josh has been at work all day and I stay around the hotel during those hours.
3. Get Out of the Room
Make sure you aren’t spending all your time in the hotel. Especially for this time for us while we are moving because of a job, it can be easy to go to work then come back and not leave the room. Right now, we don’t have a car, can’t speak the local language, and don’t have many places to walk to around us, so it can be a bit difficult to do much in our area. There is stuff to do, just not to the extent that we are used to. We are still keeping up with our weekly pint night out and going to walks when the weather permits it (it’s been raining pretty often for the two weeks).
4. Stick to Your Budget
Josh and I are big on budgeting! We sit down at the beginning of each month and plan out our big purchases. While we are living in a hotel, we aren’t buying anything other than food. It’s important to stick to your budget while your traveling so you know what you can and cannot do.
5. Communicate
The biggest tip of them all, communicate!!! Josh and I have gotten good at communicating with each other over the years. Trust me it wasn’t always this way, we’ve had our fair share of argument in the beginning of our relationship. We have figured out how to communicate together, which has helped a lot during this time. Because we have gotten into ruts during out hotel stay and most of it has been fixed by just getting out of the room and walking around the local area. If you’re feeling out of sorts, just talking about it can not only make you feel better, but also prevent misunderstandings between you and your significant other (or really anyone in your life.)
hers: levis shirt (similar here and here) | banana republic shorts (similar here, here, or here)
his: levis shirt (similar) | levis jeans (or here)
slightly luminous 