Sean B. Fitzgerald It doesn’t go something like this, it goes exactly like this.

Fist pumpin’ my way to Italy

One of the worst parts about Facebook (and there are many) is seeing how much better other people are doing in comparison to you. And by "you" I mean "me".

Let me be clear. I'm not saying they're doing better than me professionally or socially, just in what they're doing. When I graduated high school, I went to Community College for two years, then transferred to Seton Hall University. For all 3 and a half years I commuted to school (Seton Hall being situated 45 minutes from my home) every day and worked 20 to 30 hours a week. I did three internships and made valuable connections at each one. I busted my balls to graduate early and do so with very good grades. Obviously I'm proud of myself.

But sometimes when I look at my fellow high school alumni, I can't help but think that I chose the wrong path. I'm not saying that they aren't hard-workers, it's just as if they see no risk in packing their bags and taking off for a foreign land on a moment's notice. It's as if they have no attachments to what they're doing here and are able to take weeks, even months off at a time to go to the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, or the West Coast. Don't these people have jobs? What about school? how can you afford this? Don't you SAVE money?

On the surface, it looks like they don't. But often times, the expenses are paid by daddy and mommy. Must be nice.

But hey, I don't begrudge them. If I were put in their situation, I'd be jet-setting all over this blue planet in a heart beat. Which is why I'm taking off two weeks in August to travel to Italy with one of my friends. The lucky bastard is staying a month in Sicily with family and said I'd be able to stay for a week towards the end of his trip. Normally, the old Sean would've have said "thanks but no thanks". School would've gotten in the way. Work would've have gotten in the way. Or the cheap side of me would kick in and scoff at the price of the plane tickets.

This time was different. I have to go, right? Two weeks at a beach town in Sicily experiencing REAL Italian food, drink, culture. I always talk about how I want Anthony Bourdain's life. This is it. I have to accept. And I did.

So now, it's a waiting game. 35 days and counting to be exact. I'm so excited I can't even enjoy the rest of the summer. It's merely a formality until I take off from Newark. I've never been on a flight by myself, but I'm sure I'll be fine. My main concern is being able to keep my sanity for the eight hours in the air. Not to mention the hour long connecting flight from Rome to Catania, Italy. Jesus, it's 2010. Can't there be direct flights to and from every airport on the planet? No? Shit.

I've also got to make sure I get up and stretch periodically throughout the flight as to avoid any sort of seizure or brain hemorrhage. Why yes, I DO watch too many Medical Mystery shows. Why do you ask?

I made sure I picked a seat towards the back of the plane near the flight attendants. The prevailing wisdom when dealing with turbulence is to watch the behavior of the flight attendants. If their calm, you should be calm. Obviously their experience has seasoned them through hundreds of instances of turbulence and how they act will be the proper indicator as to how serious the situation is. So when you see them making peace with God, it's time for you to do the same.

My goal for this trip is to relax and soak it all in. "It" being "the culture". Lets see, I've been to Canada, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, and Ireland. And only in Ireland was I really able to experience the culture. Canada is basically America but cleaner. For the DR, I was on a resort and the only real Dominicans I saw were the cooks and maids. Everyone else were just douche bag Americans like me. And it was basically the same for Bermuda. It's very much a transient island filled with millionaire and billionaire outsiders looking to for a place to be rich.

I've been told by my friend that the town we're staying in is very "touristy" but it won't matter because I'll be staying with one of the locals. Someone who has lived on the island of Sicily for his entire life.

I'll try my best to write every day while there. I'll take many pictures, but I'd like to remember it via pen and paper. That way I can record my thoughts and feelings immediately after I experience them.

I'm really looking forward to this. But with my luck I'll get sick and be miserable the whole time. Fingers crossed!