Coming full circle: Joshua's personal journey through Italy and to Turin

While I don’t have any familial roots in Italy, I’ve formed a deep personal connection with the country over the years. Italy has become a recurring chapter in my life—each visit leaving behind something lasting, something that keeps pulling me back. It began as family travel, grew into academic exploration, and has now transformed into a personal journey of growth, curiosity, and connection. Most recently, that path led me to Turin—a city I hadn't expected to mean so much until I arrived.

My first visit to Italy was back in 2016. I traveled with my mom Lisa, my dad Frank, and my two brothers, Zach and Cooper. It was a big holiday trip through Rome and Florence during Christmas and New Year’s. That trip was one of the most magical family experiences I’ve ever had. We soaked in the festive energy of Italy in winter, and the country felt even more alive than I imagined. One of the most unforgettable moments was New Year’s Eve in Rome. We had dinner on a rooftop, and at midnight, we had a breathtaking 360-degree view of the city as all the quartieri lit up the sky with fireworks. It truly felt like I was living in a Disney movie—completely enchanted, completely present.

A couple of years later, I returned to Italy, this time as part of a high school exchange through my Latin class at Jesuit High School in Texas. We participated in a program with a Jesuit school in Milan. In the fall, my family and I hosted a student named Edoardo. We wanted to give him and the other Italian exchange students a true taste of American, specifically Texan, culture. We took them to the rodeo, to football games, to classic American restaurants, and to museums and historic sites. It was about showing them what life in Texas was like beyond just the classroom.

In the spring, I flew to Milan and stayed with Edoardo’s family. That trip was educational and eye-opening. For two weeks, we traveled from Milan to Florence and Rome, focusing on the history of ancient Rome and Italian culture through a classical lens. But beyond the academic focus, it was my first experience truly living in another culture. Being with an Italian host family, seeing daily life unfold in another country—it gave me a kind of insight and appreciation I hadn’t felt as a tourist.

My third trip to Italy came in 2024, when I returned with friends on a 16-day adventure. We started in Switzerland, then made our way through the Cinque Terre, eventually ending in Florence to visit friends who were studying abroad. It was a fun, spontaneous, and freeing trip. But it was more than just a vacation—it was something I had been craving. After years of visiting Italy with family or for school, I wanted to experience the country as an individual. I wanted to reconnect with it on my own terms—to walk its streets without a schedule, to discover the small places, and to see how it made me feel outside of any structure. That trip helped me realize that I wasn’t done with Italy. In fact, I was just beginning.

Now, I’ve moved here for a full year—taking a gap year to immerse myself in the language, the culture, and myself. I wanted to learn Italian not just in a classroom but in real time, in real places. I wanted to break from my routine back home and place myself somewhere that would challenge and inspire me. Italy felt like the right place for that, and the more I looked into it, the more Turin kept coming up—especially through a program called “Italianforawhile,” which helped me navigate the visa process and find a place to land.

What I didn’t know until recently was that my dad Frank and my grandfather had visited Turin together years ago. They didn’t travel to all the same cities I’ve been to, but Turin was one of their stops. They came to see the Shroud of Turin, the Royal Palace, and to explore the city’s history and architecture. Until I started researching my own trip, Turin wasn’t on my radar—but knowing that both my dad and grandfather had spent time there gave it a new sense of importance.

When I told my dad I was moving to Italy, he was thrilled. And when I decided Turin would be my first home base, he wanted to come too—to revisit the place he had seen with his father and to share it with me. We made the trip together during his birthday weekend, and it became one of the most meaningful experiences we’ve shared. Walking the streets of Turin with him, seeing his memories come alive, and building new ones together—it felt like the past and present merging in the best way.

Turin itself surprised me. It doesn’t shout for attention the way cities like Rome or Florence do. Instead, it invites you to lean in. There’s elegance here—wide boulevards, peaceful piazzas, and a rich cultural fabric that feels both regal and relaxed. It’s a city that rewards curiosity, that opens up slowly but meaningfully.

For my dad, it was a chance to revisit a place tied to his memories of his father. For me, it was the start of something new. Being in Turin wasn’t about honoring the past—it was about exploring and finding understanding. Understanding this city, this country, and even myself.

Italy has become more than just a destination in my life. It has become a mirror—showing me how I’ve changed over time and what I value most. My time in Turin is still unfolding, but I already know it will leave a lasting mark. This journey, shared with my family in different stages and now carried forward on my own, is shaping who I am becoming.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes the places we least expect become the most important. Turin, for me, is one of those places.