I'm starting to sound like a broken record.

Six years ago I visited Rome and felt turned off to the city, largely because of the people.

Rome was probably never going to be my favorite place, simply because of the discrepancy between what the city offers and what I value.

• I'm interested in WW2 and post-WW2 history. Rome is better for ancient history.
• I value walkable cities and great city views. Rome is sprawling and lacks a nice skyline.
• I've seen one too many beautiful churches in my life and those happen to be a staple of Rome.

But, I came to appreciate Rome more the second time around for one simple reason.

Yup.

The people.

The Best Hostel Dorm Ever

"Why isn't every room like this?"

The question was asked more than once over our short time together.

Every hostel is full of young people just trying to figure out life, see the world, and create memories.

So why was it only this one where people felt comfortable being vulnerable, cracking jokes, and waking each other up at 3:00AM to meditate?

Yes. 3:00 AM meditation. Every night.

I'm not sure how it came to be, but fresh off my 10-day silent meditation, I felt incredibly grateful to lead a 15-20 minute Vipassana session with the coolest hostel room ever.

Beyond that, I got to get to know some fascinating people!

Hadden is a US military member stationed in the Sinai Peninsula, so close to Gaza that he can hear the bombings.

Cami had been dabbling in mindfulness and now wants to try Vipassana when she's back in her home country, Canada.

I only spent two nights in that room, but everyone felt like old friends. We bantered as if we had known each other for years. Somehow, in an 8-person room, everyone was part of the camaraderie.

And the fun didn't stop there.

Hablo some Español?

The same night the hostel was hosting a karaoke night. Naturally, I went for the classic move of singing first and setting the bar extremely low for other people to feel comfortable going on stage.

Unfortunately, this move backfired when I met a group of 8 Argentinian girls who found out I was singing We Are Never Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift.

Two of them happened to be Taylor's biggest fans, so we sang together. They proceeded to set the bar way higher than I had intended but it was a helluva start to the night.

Beyond our triumphant trio, the group of Argentinians brought the best vibes to the bar. I fed off their excitement as we killed one karaoke song after another, concluding by the end of the night that I needed to aprender español as soon as possible and go visit them in Buenos Aires.

They also invited me to join them at a church service at Saint Peter's Basilica in The Vatican the following day.

This was probably the coolest place I could imagine to go to mass, although I probably should have foreseen how overly commercialized the service was.

I did get to see this cool-looking old guy in a wheelchair though :)

They Kept Coming

Out of all these dope people I met in Rome, there was one who I couldn't seem to escape.

I met Anj on a walking tour in Florence and afterward, we got lunch together. She was half-Pakistani, half-Canadian, and full of positive energy!

It turned out that our haphazardly organized lunch turned into about 10 days of traveling together–first in Florence, then Rome, and finally Napoli and the Amalfi Coast.

Sometimes you connect with people so easily and this was one of those instances. We could go from joking to serious, abuzz with conversation to silently soaking in our surroundings.

It took me less than a week to feel comfortable enough around her to make 69 jokes and she begrudgingly gave me the title of her "acting boyfriend"–the only way she could rationalize visiting the Amalfi Coast with me while single.

While Anj was unable to persuade me that it's pronounced paaasta, not pasta, I was convinced that travel with her was effortless. It was a welcome break from the solo life, while still feeling like I could have my space when needed.

The best travel buddy :)

A Second Look at Rome

Six years later, I gave Rome another chance.

The verdict? It will still never be the city for me for the reasons mentioned above.

But this time, I left Rome with happy memories, not negative ones.

I'll remember the people I met fondly. They helped paint a much rosier picture of the city which allowed me to overlook the dreary weather and lack of a skyline.

I'll cherish the 3:00 AM meditation session that I led, which was an unexpected highlight of my entire travels so far.

I don't think about Rome in disgust anymore.

I think about the people who made the place instead. And that makes all the difference.