How I Made Italy A Reality! --Where It All Started

How could a broke college student take a 10 Day trip to Italy?

     I was about to find out!  This is the beginning of the story of Harrison's Italy.

Where it ALL Started!

Tenn. to Italy

I just started college in a small school near Nashville, TN (Cumberland University)....never heard of it??  Neither has most people who live 200 miles away from the campus.  Almost 10% of the student population were on athletic scholarships, and I was one of the 10% getting some of my education paid via sports.


My mother played the piano in church and I decided I wanted to take piano lessons as an elective during freshman year.  I went to the music building and found my way to the correct room.  After going through the beginning part of the class the professor stopped the class...what he asked me would change my life.


"You are on scholarship here...have you ever thought about singing instead of sports?"  Without giving me a chance to reply he stated, "You see, we (the music department) get almost the same amount of money as the entire sport's department.  However, they (sport's department) have so many athletes, they can not give much money to each person.  WE, on the other hand, have much more money PER PERSON just because there are fewer people to share money."  My ears perked up.  The music professor said, "Because you can read music...we can teach you to sing in a choir of people...we need male voices in your range...we can give you more than double what you are currently receiving in scholarship...PLUS...we are taking a trip to Italy next year....how about it?"


At first, it didn't really sink in.  I get more $ for school giving less work and I am getting a chance to travel through Italy.  Absolutely!  Where do I sign?!?

Italy on the Horizon

Italian Flag

Well.  This professor was correct.  They taught me to sing how they wanted me to sing and because of my lower register voice I was needed.  The crazy part:  I was the worst singer in this choir!  Not that I was bad...it is just this choir happened to be a Dynamite Team arranged with near professional performers.  We (mostly they) were GREAT and I was part of an spectacular performing choir whereas if I continued to play sports I would never start!


If you ask most people to name their once-in-a-lifetime vacation trip, Italy pops up in the top 3 places.  Most people will save a ton of money just to take their European Vacation which will set them back $4K-$10K.  Harrison's 10 Day Italy trip was going to cost only $1,400!  This included the plane ticket, lodging, travel in Italy, food, everything!  I had almost 1 whole year until the money was due.


Why so cheap?  Many things played a factor in how we were going to take a 10 day Italian vacation:  we were able to stay in a convent vs a hotel...group discounts on buses, etc.  After all the dust cleared I was 20 years old, and going to Italy...so I didn't care how much $ I needed to save.

Mission Accomplished

Le Marche, Italy

The day finally came when I walked through the airport terminal and into the transatlantic jet.  After landing in Italy, my mind started to record everything.  This was 2004 so 4K video on iPhones were not even hear of yet.  We did the 2 performances over the next 10 days and had literally the best time of life up to that point.  Italy is divided into regions and our performances where in the Le Marche region which borders the Adriatic Sea on the right side of the country.  I saw all the tourist stuff in Rome, but the biggest impression came from the Le Marche Region.

All good things must come to an end.  As I left Italy I told myself,  "I will be back.  I don't know when, but I will come back here one day."

Sharing Italy With Others

Thanks for joining us.  I hope you enjoyed the very first blog post!  Please join me on the next blog as I wish to really talk more about great experiences in Italy. 

Affiliate links might be in this specific blog post, don't be offended.

Join us next time on Harrison's Italy Blog. Thanks.