Five years!

Hi everyone. Welcome back to The Lemon Abroad.

By now, I can’t count how many times I have written or said these words. Five years into my passion project, this blog has stayed with me through travels, lockdowns, and graduate school. It has always been on my mind, even when my studies were so intense that I had to set it to the side for a while. It has grown and expanded and evolved as I have begun to explore beyond travel guides and also into book reviews, lifestyle content, and recommendations. But at the heart of The Lemon Abroad is the same mission that I began with five years ago: to share content that can be helpful to people, and that can inspire them to get out of their comfort zone and follow their dreams, no matter if that is around the world or around their own neighborhood. I wanted to provide people with the information and the encouragement that they could use to take those first steps towards a new adventure.

So far, The Lemon Abroad blog has provided travel guides, recommendations, and photo content from more than twelve countries. And while I, as a geography nerd at heart, have kept count of the different countries I have traveled to, I have really begun recently to think, and witness, how borders actually keep us separate. They encourage us to distinguish between people, between us and them. Through my travels abroad, and also in encountering other cultures at home in my adopted city of Palermo, it has become even more important for me that I share these experiences with others. Experiences like learning about different cultures, different ways of life, and different ways we see the world.

Growing up, I had parents who exposed me to other cultures beyond our own through travel and cultural experiences, but had they not, my childhood would have been extremely sheltered. I grew up in a community with very little cultural, racial, or religious diversity. Therefore, I can understand how the experience of first learning about the cultures of others can be surprising, even shocking or confusing. Rest assured, I can almost guarantee that they would think the same thing about you.

One major development with The Lemon Abroad in the last year is that six months ago, I began committing myself to my YouTube channel that I had actually began three years earlier. I began posting content that I believed would be helpful to someone like me: someone who is interested in traveling and moving abroad, with of course an emphasis on moving to Italy. I wanted to make a guide of all the things I wish I could have known ahead of time. Through my YouTube channel, I have begun to reach a wider audience. A large majority of people who follow me on Instagram or Facebook, for example, are people I already know, or friends of friends. On YouTube, I have begun to reach an audience of people who do not know me, but who are looking for that same kind of advice. This is definitely a new experience for me, and it is a little bit out of my comfort zone. However, I am always the one advocating for pushing yourself beyond what you believed was possible for you. So I know that in order for my project to reach the people I am hoping it will, it is necessary that I put myself out there.

So this is where I find myself now, five years into this project, this idea. It is definitely the longest I have ever committed to any endeavour. I am thrilled when I look back on my past blogs and YouTube videos. I am compiling a canon of practical and motivational content, but also a personal diary. I can look back and see how I have grown over these years through these varied experiences. This type of effort, this type of compilation, does not happen overnight, and I know that there is still so much more that I want to create and share with you. There are so many things that I still dream to do. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for The Lemon Abroad, and for me, the Lemon, as I am now affectionately known as well. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

love,

the lemon abroad

Note: The header image shows Monte Pellegrino, Palermo.