Is Rome Spent?

I’m feeling a bit salty this morning and I need to vent. I want to push buttons, tell people off, listen to aggressive music from the 90s and stew in it for a while. Sitting in my office gives me a sense of peace, but also highlights my limitations. Why do I need to sit here and angrily contemplate why ICE is coming to the Olympics? Living in Italy gives me a bit of separation from the insanity of the US, but when the ocean is crossed like this I get a bit twitchy.

In my negativity, I was recently thinking about people, like me, who love Rome and like to promote it in any way possible. Rome content is limitless if you poke around social media, YouTube, popular culture and anything food related (books, TV, movies, etc.) long enough. Am I adding anything to the morass?

The Opposite Is True For Travelers

In my grumpiness, I want to be clear that for travelers coming to Rome, there has never been a better time. As a resident, I still take a beat to marvel at the Colosseum every time I walk by. The sites, food and culture of this amazing city are worth even the shortest visit but can also be enjoyed for a lifetime.

No, my frustrations aren’t directed at the people coming and taking selfies, it’s more of a self-loathing feeling of contempt for people who feel the need to add their content onto the limitless stack that is already out there. Should we/they continue?

Will AI Simply Exacerbate This Feeling?

Of course AI can only add to the problem of too much content. It consumes the videos, images, blogs, recipes and travel itineraries that are publicly available and regurgitate the same AI slop. It will create nothing original and with questionable accuracy, which leaves other content creators wondering how they can maintain their buoyancy on top of the sea of content growing at an accelerated pace.

Am I The Problem?

Yes, when I get grumpy I often turn the lens onto myself. I don’t have the answer to that question yet, but I do have some thoughts on the opposite question: Are Others Not The Problem?

To this I would say the answer is: Yes. There are a few original content creators that focus on Rome and Italy that are adding a unique viewpoint that should act as an inspiration to those who would also like to express their love for the country they’re from, or have adopted (like me).

Lionfield

If you are unfamiliar with Emiliano and Matteo (a.k.a. Lionfield), they originated on TikTok a few years back and they continue to entertain. They have since migrated their content to other platforms, so they are hard to miss. If you have a second, I hope you’ll stop and see what original humor looks like (to me):

Gratsi Wine

This content creator is new to me, but I was immediately impressed with the production quality of the videos. This, to me, is an example of someone raising the bar on travel videos without making it all about themselves. I’m also curious about their wine-in-a-box:

So, How Do I Talk Myself Off The Ledge?

I guess, based on what I like, I have two options:

• Develop a sense of humor in the content I create that people will love.

• Raise the quality bar on everything I create.

The first option seems unlikely, given my salty demeanor, but quality is something I can control. I can move forward with an eye towards impressing content consumers with a noticeably higher level of quality than your average blogger. At this point, my writing, photography and videography can use a deliberate moment of reflection. The time spent improving myself this year should distract me from the nightmare unendingly unfolding in the US.

Hmm. I feel a little better and I’m glad I vented!