This week, I am embarking on my first solo journey abroad! Solo is the key word here, because I have traveled with family and with friends, but never alone.

The thing is, I never thought that I would get here. In the past two years, I’ve traveled to amazing cities. First, in the first four months of 2015, I went to study abroad in London with three of my best friends at college. I also traveled to other major cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona and Lisbon with them.

It was amazing. I had never seen other cultures besides my own in Japan and Europe felt like a whole new world where young adults like me ruled society. When my family came to visit me there, we visited Paris together. I got to watch my family experience Europe for the first time. It made me happy to experience the pleasure of discovery with them rather than giving something that I had bought.

Then, in January of this year, my mom, sister and I stopped in Taipei, Taiwan for two nights before we went to visit our family in Kyoto, Japan. I loved getting to spend quality time with my mom and my sister and explore a different city with them. I have grown up with the privilege of being able to travel internationally from a young age. I have been traveling to Japan almost every year since I was an infant, but discovering all of the new cities has fed my wanderlust even more.

After experiencing loss in my family, I had thought it best to stay home for this summer, especially since I have graduated college. It would mean that I needed to start searching for a job and help out around the house. During my spring break, I remember discussing with my mom about what my plans were for the summer. My summer plans were already different since I wasn’t going to spend 10 weeks at camp. So, she suggested that I find somewhere to travel and then I can come back to really buckle down into the professional world. My next question was where?

Through some friends, I had gotten the idea to look at EF College Break. They have this program where I could choose somewhere to go and they have this set itinerary for me and a set price that seemed affordable considering it was inclusive of all transportation and breakfast. I looked through and because I was on a budget, I decided to go on a short 10-day trip to Costa Rica!!! As I looked through the itinerary, it was more than I had imagined! I would get to kayak, white water raft and zipline through the jungle! I thought that since I would be missing out on nature and a lot of hiking because I wasn’t going to camp anymore, that this would be the perfect kind of summer trip for me.

After signing up and getting my first payment over with, I began to grow nervous. Would I make friends? Would I enjoy the trip? What if I lose something? What if something bad happens? My nervousness began to give me anxiety, and I would grow tired of myself. I reminded myself that this was only ten days, and even if I didn’t make any lifelong friends, I was a friendly enough person to get along with strangers for more than a week. After all, what had camp and college taught me?

Now, I’ve checked myself in and downloaded my boarding passes on my phone. I packed everything into a duffel bag which I’ll have to double-check its contents to make sure I have everything. I’m so excited!

This only reminded me that I was traveling alone for the first time. I had always had a safety net that I can bounce into if I needed. Who would I talk to without having to censor myself? Are people going to understand the way that I express myself? I am excited to see what happens and hopefully, I will be able to update my Instagram almost daily. It’s exciting to know that I could take

care of my travel bug. I hope that through some soul searching, I will gain some clarity.