Often times I find myself stressed between taking 21 credit hours, working two journalism jobs, maintaining a social life and constantly missing California.

Each semester, I've dedicated a trip using my own funds to visit home for a concert with my dad. At first, it was out of love for Oasis and a refusal to miss Liam Gallagher's first solo tour but soon it became tradition. It also became other cities like LA, Seattle and San Diego, where friends and family are going to college, but that's for another story.

A photo of me at my first trip out of pocket back home in San Francisco, CA, before Liam Gallagher's first show of his first solo U.S. tour.Rob Hernandez

My freshman year it was one crazy night in San Francisco to see Liam Gallagher at The Warfield. My sophomore year, it was a weekend in San Francisco to see Arctic Monkeys play back to back shows at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

Then over the summer, I discovered Greta Van Fleet.

A band I constantly overlooked, and I really don't know why. I was at a Struts concert over the summer, and I ran into a friend wearing a GVF shirt. Later that night, in early July, I looked them up on YouTube, listened to "Highway Tune" then "Safari Song" and then Amazon Primed "From the Fires."

Outside the Bill Graham after the first of two Arctic Monkeys concerts.Rob Hernandez

The next day, "Anthem of the Peaceful Army" was in my shopping cart and on its way. My dad and I then planned my next trip back home. Seeing Greta Van Fleet at the Bill Graham to continue what has now become tradition.

With less than a week left until I went back home, destressed from school, excited to eat amazing food and go back to the city I have forever loved, I met a friend who shares the same love for music and traveling. Knowing each other for roughly a week, we planned to shoot two photography assignments two days before that Sunday.

Before the soccer game we photographed, my friend came to my apartment and upon seeing my music decor, we started talking about bands we liked. A Led Zeppelin song came on during the car ride over, and we started talking about upcoming shows we were going to. We both discovered a love for the same band that I was seeing in approximately five days.

So what did we do?

Lauren Hernandez

We went to see them in San Diego that Sunday. She had a car, and I had a cousin who lived in San Diego. It worked out perfectly. We bought tickets, and in less than two days later we were driving to San Diego. It took five hours to get there, and we spent it singing to the Eagles and Steve Miller Band but also looking at the scenery such as the Imperial Sand Dunes, which we later made an appearance at.

Once we finally got there, I was already having a blast and something about making a spontaneous trip made me that much more excited. Call it magic or call it luck, but the second we got to the show, our seats were better than we imagined. Roughly nine rows from the stage on the guitar player's side and the second we were about to sit down, a couple sitting five rows from the stage asked us if we could switch with them so they could sit with their friends. Now five rows from the stage and dying of anticipation, we were ready for the show.

A selfie before the show.Lauren Hernandez

After an amazing concert, we went back to my cousin's apartment, too excited to sleep, and had to wake up four hours later to drive back to our 1 p.m. class that Monday. I also had to make an 8 p.m. flight to relive the experience all over again. I spent the whole next day driving out of San Diego and countless cities we passed, running up the Imperial Sand Dunes and using a Doc Marten to capture the moment, eating burritos in Yuma, running to class in Phoenix, packing in Tempe and finally flying to Sacramento.

It was one of the craziest and definitely the most spontaneous things I've ever done, but I would do it all over again because I think it is important to live in the moment and never have regrets. Having such an accepting and cool family with interesting lives and career paths stressing travel, exploration and independence has influenced my passion for life. Now incorporating this into my college experience, I've learned to travel on my own and it has made me even more excited for my 20s and the career path I have chosen.

Until the next adventure,

Lauren