Travel anywhere and everywhere
Up until this year, I knew I wanted to spend time traveling eventually but I never thought I would take on my first adventure during my college years. One of my best friends from high school took on this semester studying abroad in Rome, Italy. Just weeks prior to spring break, my other best friend from high school came to me with the idea of spending our break going to visit our friend. Out of excitement, I said yes! Within days, her and I had our plane tickets ordered, Passports completed and planning was on its way. If someone came to be at the beginning of the New Year asking if traveling was on my radar, the answer would have been no! Not even half way through 2017, I was granted the opportunity to spend a week in Europe! No matter the destination, travel! If my friend would have been studying anywhere else in the world, traveling still would have taken place! Take advantage of any opportunity you get to travel. I promise you won’t regret it!
Do it with people you love
To say that I traveled across the world with 2 of my best friends still is beyond real to me! What made spending a week in Italy so great was because of the people I was surrounded by. Not only did I spend time with my 2 friends, but I also was able to meet and hangout with people through the friend studying abroad. Too, my freshman year roommate was studying abroad right in Rome as well so I was thankful to have spent an entire day with her! Memories made were honestly once in a lifetime.
Words (or a textbook) can’t compare to experiencing it in person
All landmarks and locations we traveled to in Rome were very unreal. Up until that week, all places that we traveled to visit were places that I only knew about through pictures online and information studied and learned through my education. Let me tell you, reading about the Colloseum and standing above it through an observation deck are completely different (in a good way of course!!) Born and raised in the United States, it was overwhelming to think that I was standing in front of a landmark that was created way before the USA was even thought of! Putting it into perspective in such a way really made being at such a historically driven country that much more intriguing and enjoyable!
It is a great way to step out of your comfort zone
Traveling, especially across the world, was a bit harder than expected. It didn’t hit my friend or I until we arrived at JFK a few hours before our plane take off to Rome that this truly was happening. Traveling a total of 3,500 miles was a lot to absorb. You don’t realize the emotion found behind traveling until you are put into the position of actually doing it. Too, being thrown into a country where their primary language is not the same as ours was enough to drive my anxiety. As it was not as difficult as I thought it would be since their secondary language was English, it was still an adjustment. Everything we did that week was a huge leap outside my comfort zone; traveling and making our way around Italy, being in another country with no other adult figures, legally drinking (18 was their drinking age) and making our own decisions that week was huge!! It was definitely worth every second.
You learn a great amount about yourself
Traveling to another country just for a week sparked a lot of new beliefs, opinions and emotions that I never thought existed. As much as I thought that traveling across the world and possibly spending time in another country during my lifetime was in my future, I proved myself wrong. In those 7 days, I found out how much I appreciated my home country and that I would not feel driven to live in another country for longer than days at a time. Don’t get me wrong, Italy was absolutely incredible! But because of different cultures, traditions, and ways of life, I did find particular time to be more difficult than others. Too, I never thought that I would have gotten as homesick as I did. The thought of being a day worth of travel away from home was a bit unsettling and sometimes hard to handle. Of course I learned to deal with it but at times those emotions were for sure triggered.
Yes, it stimulates an addiction
Nothing quite beats the feeling of having the memories, pictures, thoughts and passport stamps of traveling across the world. Just in 7 days, I was sparked to continue my journey across the world. Just like getting a tattoo, once you do it once, it is very hard to stop! Here is too continuing the journey!
