In Venice, my second destination in Italy, I wanted to get some photographs so I got my brave on and was up before dawn to find my way to St Marks. It was a bit uncomfortable at first to be in the very dark streets. None of them have street lights and all of them were empty. But on getting to St Marks Square, I found myself with lots of other people waiting for first light. It may not seem like much, but I was actually quite proud of conquering my hesitations. I was fascinated watching the city come awake with boats delivering fresh baking to all the hotels. This felt like a part of Venice that not every tourist sees.

I have travelled a lot solo but it was always for business. I wanted to see how I would do travelling for pleasure alone. Perhaps it wouldn’t be pleasureful at all and would be terribly lonely. I chose to go to the world’s most popular destination, Italy.