I found exactly what I was looking for, which was to see what it was like to go. Being in a state of travel is great because it keeps your mind busy, since there are so many new things to worry about, like where and what to eat, where to sleep, the logistics of traveling, how not to get robbed, and so on and so forth. Perhaps that is what's so great about going somewhere new, it's a very low hanging fruit for inner personal development.
How challenging it is to survive where you're going probably relates to how different it is from where you're used to, and is also relevant to how easily you'll be kept busy. You don't want it to be too challenging though, because you might end up feeling homesick and giving up. If you have direction in your life, it probably also helps if where you're going somehow helps move you in that exact direction. In general what I can say about going to Italy is that when you're there you're somewhere else, but you're still the same person.
Milan is a great city, and feels quite advanced and connected to Europe. It's almost like being in Germany, that is if the Germans were Italian. Bologna is a small but incredibly old city, so it is very well established. It feels in a way rich and educated. Rome is very nice and does really give a good impression of how great the Romans were, while people still manage to live a modern life in between all the old stone. Naples is nice too, but way more chaotic and there's a lot of trash and garbage everywhere. The rich and poor gap appears more obvious here. For the whole of Italy though, with the risk of sound a bit negative, compared to Norway where I live, it felt somewhat like going back in time to a less prosperous place.
For me I'm not sure if these places are something I'd like to explore in more detail, but getting a glimpse of the situation there and how people live gave me some good perspective.