From Paris 2024 to Milan 2026: the trip with friends we actually made happen

Where it began

A slightly crazy idea in Paris.

I was in Paris in 2024 with two friends when we decided that we should meet again for the Winter Olympics in Milan. It was easy to say yes while we were travelling. Keeping the plan alive once calendars, dates and bookings entered the conversation was the harder part.

Six more people joined us. Eighteen months later, we were there at the opening ceremony, watching a casual idea between friends become a real trip.

How many plans have you made while travelling that are still waiting in a WhatsApp group?

The promise

Eighteen months later, we were at the opening ceremony.

In the reel from that day I wrote: “Today we are here. At the opening ceremony. Living history.” That was exactly how it felt.

The plan had grown from a conversation between three people into a larger group. We could finally look around and say: yes, we actually did it.

Suggesting a trip is easy. Getting several people to arrive in the same place on the same dates feels like an Olympic discipline of its own.

Across Milan

The Olympic flame made us run.

Listen to this: we went looking for the Olympic flame, and the flame seemed to have no interest in meeting us.

We would reach one point just after it had left, then run to the next place and miss it again. Chasing it across Milan became part of the day.

We finally saw it. But the mixture of rushing and laughing on the way became almost as memorable as catching up with it.

A birthday away from home

Ice hockey, friends and plenty of Italian food.

Milan was also where I celebrated my birthday that year. My summary was very specific: the Olympics, plenty of Italian food, friends and ice hockey.

I do not need a list of twenty things to explain why it mattered. Celebrating during a trip we had imagined 18 months earlier was already enough.

I am not listing restaurants or dishes here because the public material from this trip did not identify them. I would rather tell you only what I actually lived and documented.

A smaller surprise

The painted domes inside Milan’s Duomo made me look twice.

Between events, we also went into Milan’s Duomo. I looked up and wondered whether the relief in the domes was real or painted.

I moved closer and realised it was paint. The effect tricks the eye, which is exactly why I recorded it.

You can build a trip around a huge event and still be surprised by a small visual detail. Those moments hold a story together too.

What stayed with me

“We have to do this” did not remain just a phrase.

What trip have you and your friends been saying you will take for far too long?

• An idea shared by three friends in Paris 2024.
• Six more people deciding to join the plan.
• The group together at an opening ceremony 18 months later.
• Several attempts before we finally saw the flame.
• A birthday with friends, Italian food and ice hockey.
• Painted domes inside the Duomo that looked like real relief.