A post about a solo journey to Italy—which saw an unplanned adventure take the traveler from self-reflection to a spontaneous celebration with an Italian grandma—has gone viral on Reddit.
The post shared by u/FoxyEnchantingSimp has amassed 52,000 upvotes since it was posted on April 4. The post—titled, "I went on a solo trip thinking I'd 'find myself' or whatever...but instead I got drunk w a 73yo [year old] Italian grandma & ended up in a village wedding"—chronicles a moment of unexpected connection and joy on a woman's travels.
"Okay, so this was not in the plan at all," the post begins. "I booked a solo trip to Italy 'cause I thought I needed one of those life changing moments ppl [people] always talk about. Packed my little backpack, journal, headphones with a sad girl playlist. I was READY to heal."
Stock image: A woman sitting on an edge overlooking a harbor in Marina di Corricella, a fishing village on the Italian island of Procida, off the coast of Naples.Stock image: A woman sitting on an edge overlooking a harbor in Marina di Corricella, a fishing village on the Italian island of Procida, off the coast of Naples.iStock / Getty Images PlusFemale solo travelers "seek adventure, escape, social interaction, education, independence, and self-understanding," according to a December 2023 study in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism.
But rather than a quiet, introspective escape, the woman in the viral Reddit post found herself swept up in the warm chaos of Italian hospitality.
"First day I was in Naples and met this older lady—she was literally wearing a leopard dress and heels at 10 a.m., queen energy," she wrote. After helping the woman carry something, the two struck up a conversation. "Somehow she invited me to her village outside the city for 'real food and better wine.'"
What followed was the kind of spontaneous magic travelers dream about. "Long story short—I said 'yes' [and] she takes me on this sketchy but cute train, I meet her WHOLE family, everyone is yelling—but like the loving kind—I drink way too much homemade wine, and six hours later, I'm dancing barefoot at a wedding for a couple I've never met in my life," she said.
The poster described being embraced by strangers as if she were one of their own.
"Everyone was hugging me and calling me 'bella ragazza' ['beautiful girl' in Italian] and I cried a 'lil cause it just felt so warm and...real, not like the curated TikTok travel stuff, just like life happening."
Though the solo trip didn't deliver the introspective journey she expected, it offered something better. "Didn't find myself but def [definitely] found out that Italian grandmas party harder than me lol. 10/10 would do again," the poster said.
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
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