One of my favorite high school experiences was my senior trip. Going to a small private school, we had few enough students that almost everyone in my grade was able to make the trip. It was the most amazing experience of my life! I traveled with 30 of my closest friends around Greece and Italy and it was so cool. It made me realize how important traveling is an experiencing different cultures. My first trip outside of the U.S. was the summer after my Sophomore year of high school. I went to Honduras on a mission trip and it was a really eye-opening experience. For the first time in my life I was exposed to poverty like I had never seen before. It was incredible to be able to help others in a setting I’d never been placed in. The most interesting part of the trip for me was seeing a culture so much different from anywhere in the U.S. From the food, to the language, to the roadway; it was nothing like I had ever experienced before. I loved how unique and different it was from my hometown, that was the moment in time that I knew I had the “travel bug.”

When I found out I was going to be able to go to Greece and Italy the spring of my senior year, I was elated. I knew it was going to be an incredible trip, but I didn’t realize how much I was going to love it. Although I was a little nervous about the flight, I was also super excited. I was packed and ready to go for 2 weeks prior to the trip. We flew into London and from London to Athens; although it was a long trip, as soon as we were in Athens, I knew I was in love with travel. I decided in that moment that I was going to see and do everything I could in order to capitalize on the trip. Now that I’ve been I hope to go back some day. Athens was so much fun. It was interesting to learn so much about the country I had read and learned about for so long.

We visited the Parthenon, the Oracle of Delphi, as well as various monasteries. After finishing up our time in Greece, we traveled by ferry to Italy. Italy was fantastic. There we visited the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican, and took a day trip to Florence. All in all, it was a wonderful trip. The culture there was very different compared to United States as well as Honduras. I loved the food and gelato and all the walking and the history. I think traveling is so important. There is so much to be learned from our world that can be hard to understand without traveling. I strongly believe that if you are ever given the opportunity to travel you should take it! Traveling is such an exciting adventure, and once you have the travel bug, it’s hard to lose it!