A Euro-trip is relatively standard as a post-high school or post-university experience for a relatively large portion of society (obviously with the caveat of that being a privileged point of view). Nevertheless, there seems to be a belief that a trip abroad, to see other parts of the world and encounter new things, is a good experience for a young adult to have. Just what about this experience is so beneficial?
I clearly subscribe to this view as I'm on my third visit to England in as many years. I'm hugely lucky to have had the opportunity to take this trips, and I certainly recognize that. On my second trip, during a term abroad, my mom observed that, after nearly two and a half months in England, I seemed like a different person. I certainly felt like one, and it was a welcome change.
The whole experience of each trip has been hugely beneficial to me, each for different reasons. There is something freeing yet simultaneously terrifying about the chance to leave behind preconceived notions of yourself and encounter an entirely new set of people and things. When I left home, I got to leave behind all the things people thought of me and that I thought of myself (both for better and for worse). I was forced to find myself without any preconceived standard by which to judge myself. I had the slightly uncomfortable realization that I would have to make new friends unless I wanted to spend the term by myself. That part of my time in England went far better than I ever could have expected.I found something incredibly freeing about the whole experience, by which I mean: I lost a good deal of my sense of shame. When I landed in San Francisco after my flight home, I had a raging headache so I just wanted to get the heck out of there, but of course took ages. I decided to simply sit down on the floor in the baggage claim area, where I could see the bags coming up, and just wait it out. That doesn't sound revolutionary, but it felt like a big step to me; I never would have done that before my trip. Sometime during my trip I had stopped caring, at least a little, what people thought. I had traveled with a limited wardrobe, so some days my clothes were not what I would have worn at home, but I still made friends, people were nice to me; the ones who mattered didn't care. I had made silly mistakes with self check-out machines and needed help, I had looked like an idiot a fair few times, but hey, I survived it. also, on the whole, I think most people are at least a bit worried about how they are perceived, and for the most part people are also quite focused on what they're doing, so they really won't notice whatever thing you think you've just done that's embarrassing.
Aside from the more personal discoveries, my time abroad also made me vastly more resourceful and sure of myself than I would have been at home. Whether at home or at school, I can drive myself pretty much anywhere I would need to go, but I definitely would not drive in England, and so I had to learn how to use public transport. Figuring out different ways to book trains, planes, find stations, and use tickets or bus passes requires a certain determination and willingness to be wrong. On the other hand, these experiences also helped me see that sometimes it's ok to need help, to walk up to a railway or Tube station worker and ask for directions (that may be the difference between fumbling around and getting on the wrong Tube train for a few stops and making it somewhere on time).
Altogether, there is something very satisfying and empowering about planning and booking a trip, and then actually doing all the things you've planned. If I could book flights, take the flights, navigate different cities, and actually get where I wanted to go, why should I ever be unable to do anything?
