The tiny town of Maynooth, just a half hour west of Dublin, has a special place in my heart. It was my home for four fleeting months, and I miss it every day.
Study abroad. DO IT! You may think you'll miss your beloved campus, and at times you feel homesick for it, but then you remember you're living in a foreign country... and you get over it pretty quickly.
Studying and living in a different country is the best thing you can do for yourself. These are the reasons I miss it (and the reasons you should experience it for yourself):
1. You're on your own. For real.
At school, if you're really sick, missing your parents, or have an important family matter, you know that you can make it home. Abroad, not so much. You're "stuck." I use quotations because that word comes with a negative connotation. I don't mean this in a negative way, though. It's quite possibly one of the best things about being abroad. You become independent in a way you've never experienced. Your parents can only console you so much through FaceTime. You learn to figure out how to make yourself feel better on your own. It can be walking through and discovering your new hometown, picking up a book, or simply hanging out with other students in the same situation. It's amazing how easily a simple cup of Barry's and a plate of delicious Digestives cookies with friends can lift your spirits. (Actually, make those two delicious treats count as reasons as well. So yummy.) You're also in charge of your own trips: flights, hostels, buses, trains, etc. You grow up quickly as soon as you're the one financially responsible for all of your wonderful worldly travels.
Tea = life
2. Discovering a new place each weekend.
Oh my GOSH do I miss the thrill of flying to a new city each weekend! The crew I traveled with was an awesome one, and we stuck together for each of the 16 weekends we lived abroad. At first, we went around Ireland, seeing some of the beautiful landscapes it has to offer, including the Wicklow Mountains, Galway and the Cliffs of Moher, Belfast and Giant's Causeway, and our personal favorite, the adorable town of Killarney, which is home to the Ring of Kerry.
Not a fan of the pound, but I AM a fan of London.
Outside of Ireland, our first trip was to Cologne, Germany -- Ryanair flight tickets were purchased less than 24 hours before boarding time. It was a split decision, but one we never regretted. Every trip brought with it this level of excitement, although more advanced planning. While the majority of our flights required waking up and leaving campus at 3:30 a.m., it immediately became worthwhile once you stepped off the plane and it hit you -- "Woah, I'm in PRAGUE..."
Cinque Terre, you're a beaut.
Wandering the cities, sometimes clueless to our exact location, was the most simple pleasure. Our feet took us places our minds only dreamed of. Big Ben in London? Check. The famous glass shops of Venice? Yup. Springfest in Munich? Hell ya! It was amazing to guide ourselves through these ancient cities all with their own histories and personalities. It was humbling to experience it all: see the Holocaust Memorial of Berlin in person, climb to the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, hike the vineyard-covered mountains of Cinque Terre, walk the sandy beaches of Lisbon, take in the grandness of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and view Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower. This sort of adventure, the learning, figure-it-out-on-your-own kind, never grew old. I think I'll forever be craving that feeling.
3. Ryanair
Oh Ryanair. Okay, I don't exactly MISS it. But it certainly was a huge part of my time across the pond. The official airline of broke college kids discovering Europe on a budget is simply one of a kind. With the lowest fares in the book, Ryanair made itself a constant in our lives. Flying within Europe is different. Europeans don't wait in line, and getting off each flight was a free-for-all where you had to fend yourself from impatient travelers. Ryanair planes were small: passengers were crammed with hardly any leg room, overhead storage was a competition and because of the cheap prices, the flight was almost always booked full. The bright yellow and blue interior made you feel as though you were in a jungle gym rather than a plane, and the brand's theme music (accompanied with passenger applause) each landing made for a hilarious experience and many delayed trips.
Last Ryanair flight together :(
4. Irish people
Wow. The Irish have a special place in my heart. Truly the kindest citizens of any country I've been to, and I'm up to 11 at this point. They were so welcoming from the moment I arrived. Their friendly attitudes draw you in and their accents make you stay.
Our first night in town, we went to a local pub that soon became our favorite spot, Brady's, where we met members of the Maynooth University library staff, and they were nothing but excited to see us. They made us all feel at home as we ventured on our own for the first time. It wasn't just at the pubs that the people were so gracious; we quickly became regulars at Aldi and always had little snippets of conversations with our checkout people, who asked us about our weekend plans and always chuckled when they saw how many €4 bottles of wine we'd buy. I miss them and their fun phrases, such as, "Thanks a million!" "That's grand!" and "The craic at the club was a blast!".
5. My new friends
Birthday weekend in Italy = pure happiness
One of the best things about going abroad with 30 other University of Dayton students, and about 150 international students total, was having the chance to meet a group of kids I'd never known before. I became fast friends with a group of UD students that I never hung out with back in the States. Abroad friends are special people because they see you at your worst: exhausted from midnight landings, hangry and lost in the streets of a foreign city without directions, and hungover after a night too many complimentary pub crawl beers. However, they are also the ones by your side when you're standing at the gates of Buckingham Palace, simply taking it all in. There is no bond quite as unique as this one. Quick shout out to my people for being there with (and for) me through it all: the glorious and the dreadful. I appreciate you more than you know. I love you. I miss you.
6. Everything else
No, LITERALLY everything. I miss talking to the fellow backpackers and hearing about all their travel stories and experiences in these beautiful and unfamiliar cities. I miss pestering our friend until he played his guitar and sang for us on our nights in. I miss taking day trips into Dublin, grabbing a Guinness at The Temple Bar and listening to live Irish folk music. I miss not having Internet 90 percent of our weekends, forcing us to look each other in the eyes, and have real, meaningful conversations. I miss lounging around our kitchen/living rooms for hours on end while watching Jimmy Fallon clips and slowly learning every detail about my new friends' lives. I miss Irish accents, and the dry humor that accompanied them.
I miss it all. I'll be back for ya, Europe.
Go abroad. Do it if you get the chance. You simply will not regret it.
YUM.
