This past summer, I was lucky enough to study abroad in Florence, Italy. I met amazing friends from all over the world, learned a lot about the Italian culture, increased my confidence, and became more independent in a short eight weeks. Not only did I get to travel around Florence, but I also got to adventure to parts of Italy, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Switzerland was my most spontaneous trip—one of my roommates and two other friends had decided to use the company Bus2Alps to take a trip to Interlaken, Switzerland, and I decided to join them.
After a 8-hour bus trip, we arrived in Interlaken, a small town in the middle of the Swiss Alps that is famous for adventure sports. It was stunning: a quiet picturesque town that looked like it came straight out of a storybook.
Though I wasn't in Italy anymore, I decided to treat my Switzerland trip with a "When in Rome" attitude—I decided to go bungee jumping.
I signed up all by myself, as the people that I came to Interlaken with decided to go canyoning instead, and I showed up with butterflies in my stomach and determination in my step—or should I say jump.
After a long hour and a half wait, it was finally my turn to go up in the cable car and do the Stockhorn Bungy. The look on my face should say it all. I was a little apprehensive but ready.
The jump itself was unlike anything I've ever experienced. When I first jumped, I kind of felt like Wile E. Coyote from Looney Tunes. It felt like time stopped, and I was just paused in mid-air—very surreal.
Then I was falling. The rush was amazing, and the jerk from the cable I was expecting never came—it was all very smooth and exhilarating.
I felt on top of the world. Bungee jumping for me was very freeing. The experience made me feel very confident: I was in a country completely unfamiliar to me, I didn't tell my mother first, and I not only made the decision to do it but actually went all by myself.
It's a hard experience to describe. There just aren't enough adjectives to describe the joy, confidence, and adrenaline I felt after I took the leap. It's one of my most memorable experiences from studying abroad, and even though it only lasted a few seconds, I'll remember it forever.
