That Perfect Instagram-Worthy Picture

I never knew that my Gondola experience would result in nearly falling off of it and toppling into a body of water.

After watching a movie scene involving a romantic dinner on a Gondola as a child, I was fixated on it. My dream involved going to Italy and riding a Gondola. I would tell everyone that I knew that my dream vacation was exactly this.

My wish came true in 2018. After a rough sophomore year, my dad announced that we were going to Italy for a getaway. I was over the moon. While in Italy, there were three places that we were going to stop at: Rome, Florence, and Venice. And of course, one of the things on the list as far as things to do in Venice was to ride a Gondola.

I could barely hold my excitement as we stood in the line. When we finally got into the Gondola, there were five of us in it: my mom, my dad, me, and two other people who looked like they were a mother-daughter pair.

The city itself was absolutely beautiful. Riding the Gondola was everything I could ever dream of, and I was so excited to document and take pictures of nearly everything that I saw. I took pictures of the amazing colored buildings, the sky, the bridges, and the shops, all from what I liked to call a “gondola-eye view.”

The real problem came when I tried to take pictures of myself. Since riding a Gondola has always been such an important dream of mine, I always envisioned having model-worthy pictures. However, I felt as if none of the pictures were the way I wanted them, so I decided to change my angle.

That was very much a wrong move.

I didn’t realize this, but apparently the way that we were all sitting was what kept the Gondola in place (I wish I knew this earlier). If one of us moved, then the Gondola would not be balanced, and we would risk toppling over.

So when I moved to get that perfect Instagram-worthy picture, everyone (even our driver) was in for a shock as we nearly fell, and within seconds, I was back where I was. No picture was worth nearly toppling over. And, after all, I still got some amazing pictures.

I did get my dream experience. And it was a memorable one. However, it was not memorable in the way I expected. But isn’t the unexpected one of the best things about traveling?