Living abroad with the fear of a deadly virus. When the news first broke about the coronavirus in Wuhan and surrounding areas in China, my immediate thought went back to the swine flu in 2009. My fears grew knowing that I was in such a big global city and knowing that I have to use the public transportation everyday for school and work. It has taught me a valuable lesson on using hand sanitizer and being weary of what you touch. This was exacerbated when the news of the “super-spreader” on the tubes in London came out and scared all of us. One thing that helped us get through it was looking forward to spring break. A time away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the stress and worry from class and the internship. For most of CAPA, Italy became our prized spring break destination. For me, I started the week in Scotland through a tour guide. We wrapped up this trip on Sunday and headed back to London for an overnight so we could repack and gather our composure for the next leg of our trip: Italy. Our original plans were to fly into Rome, then move onto Florence, and eventually Venice. Just the weekend before, news came out about the huge spike in coronavirus cases in both Milan and Venice. Of course this was scary for all of us, but it was our spring break. We needed to have a break. We switched our reservations and went back to Rome after Florence to avoid the heavily affected areas. However, the fear crept into our minds every hour or so. We tried to get past the thoughts of the virus by keeping ourselves busy, eating pasta and pizza, sipping wine at sunset, and getting gelato in between every meal, but the imminent threat was always there. Sitting here now, on the train back to Rome, I can look back on most of this experience with the mindset that when I get to come back at some point in my life, I’ll have a better experience. I’ve loved the weather in Italy and the experience traveling to some many different places, but coming when the only worry in my mind is travel and the language barrier is a peace of mind for my future self.