To the person who is about to study abroad,

I am writing this letter for you to take with you on your journeys around the world. An adventure you can’t even begin to imagine is about to become your life, and then your memories that you can always look back on and learn from. That is why this trip is so special. Even though you may not realize it now, or while you are there, know that you can always remember this trip and learn from it later in life. I think the semester after being back is really when I have learned the most and rediscovered myself. After being away from certain people and a place for so long, you expect it to be exactly the way it was in your memory, but of course it isn’t, because nothing lasts forever; it’s a part of life, which may seem sad. However, if you look at it from another perspective, it is actually the most beautiful, because it’s when you know that things won’t always be the same– you truly cherish and appreciate the moments that you have in front of you. I think we all secretly know this, which was why last fall semester was one of the best times I have had in college. I wanted to write you this letter to share with you the lessons I have learned while being abroad and when coming back home.

But before I get into all of that, I want to encourage you to write when you are away, and even when you are home. But especially when you are away, because it is because of my writing that I am able to write you this letter and share my lessons learned, and look back and teach myself these lessons all over again. Sometimes, once isn’t enough and when looking back again, you can see through a new perspective. This is what I did this semester when looking back at my trip and probably will do periodically through different moments of my life. I’m going to share with you some of my journal entries that I have written down on my journey that have helped guide me through it, both then and now. Also when you write, you won’t feel as alone, because you won’t be alone; you will truly be spending time with yourself, learning things you never knew.

First, you should know that my journey was not necessarily what I expected, but then again I didn’t really know what to expect. Europe was never really a place that I planned on going, it just worked out and I just went with it. This is something I learned more in high school, but while I was away, I realized it applied to my experience abroad, too. Go into this trip with goals, but not expectations. Because life never turns out exactly the way we plan, and expectations only lead to disappointment. However, goals keep us going and allow us to have new experiences, and whether good or bad, they only lead to new lessons. I realized in high school that I had so many expectations about what I saw on TV, that when those things didn’t happen I became disappointed and unhappy. I was not happy there until my last two years, when I stopped expecting and dreaming about the things I saw on TV and lived in the moment and appreciated my school for what it was, rather than it wasn’t.

I realized that history was repeating itself while I was in Italy, because I started getting anxious about the things that weren’t happening rather than the things that were. Everyone kept telling me, “Oh, fall in love,” “take chances,” and you can’t always force those things, so when they weren’t happening, or when I let fear stop me, I started not enjoying myself. When I didn’t make instant connections I stopped enjoying myself, and it made me anxious. Towards the middle of my trip, I realized that I was repeating my mistakes, and that I needed to change my outlook on everything. There is a quotation from Siddhartha that goes along with this as well:

"I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much. I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being apart of it."

It is important that you have goals of where you want to go and how you want to be and do the steps to make them happen, but don’t expect things to be different just because you are going someplace else. Because you are still you and your mind is still yours and even though you think leaving will erase everything, it won’t, it only follows you. There was a quote on a pillow my mom gave me before I left and it said, "Wherever you go, take your whole heart with you." And as much as I wanted too, I do not think that this is possible because you heart will always be with different people and memories, no matter where you are. There’s another quote I found that says “You get a strange feeling when you leave a place, like you’ll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you’ll never be this way ever again.” And maybe you won’t, but something you will always keep are the memories and what they have taught you, and that is the reason why you will never be the same, because we are always learning and evolving from what each place, each person, and each moment has taught us.

One of the biggest lessons I learned is that a place is as good as the people in it. It was the reason my high school, even though it was beautiful, sucked, and the reason why my little college town, even though it’s a little rough on the edges, is so wonderful. So take the time to really get to know people. Even the people who you don’t see yourself becoming close with, because if you choose to see only the good in people, it is all you will see, and it will make the place you are living all the more magical. I know at times I felt trapped by my small program, but if you have the advantage of speaking the language, branch out! But also get to know the people you are with, and realize how special and lucky it is you have each other. Embrace your independence and learn what it is like to be alone with your self but confide in the people you meet for the comfort you are going to need.

Another thing, I feel like most people who want to travel have already seen "Eat, Pray, Love," but if you haven’t, watch it, and if you have watch it again. Also I recommend reading Siddhartha. Do it whenever you want, but I really liked doing both while I was abroad, because I felt like I was living what I was watching and reading. In "Eat, Pray, Love" she goes on a journey to find herself, but had a period where she actually just felt more confused then ever. I definitely had those moments. And I don’t think it was until the end of the trip, and even now that I have really started to understand how these experiences have shaped me.

So don’t be freaked out if you don’t have a life changing moment while you are there, again with the expectations, just know that no matter what happens or doesn’t happen you will learn from the experiences you are having. Julia Roberts ended the movie with a quote, and it was a quote I wanted to abide by during my trip, and life in general. She called it The Rule of Quest Physics: “ If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting- which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments- and set out on a truth seeking journey… either externally or internally… and if you are willing, truly willing, to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth, will not be withheld from you.”

I also struggled with the idea of contentment. I was wondering why I wasn’t content, when I was living my “dream” abroad. I realized I might leave this trip without the contentment that I had been searching for, but I then became content with knowing that, and knowing that that is okay. I realized that I had dug deeper inside myself and ended up with many more questions and also fueled more desires to the never ending list of things that I want/plan to do, something I’m sure you do as well. But I realized that, that might also be the point. Life might not ever be content, it might always be a journey to uncover an unsolvable mystery. And the key is to know that it might not ever be solved, but the people who get the closest are those who are always searching, learning and growing.

While in Italy, I took an environmental philosophy class and it was all about the idea of “ going into the wild”. Whether that be the actual wilderness or the metaphorical wild of an individual journey, the moral of the stories is that while these journeys are more important and teach us a lot, we must also always return home and face our problems fears and even all of the things we enjoy about our home. Because in the end, we are not meant to be alone, even though the idea of an independent journey is so often romanticized. We are meant to experience humanity, and that is another journey within itself.

I wrote this on the bus back from one of my trips. "We wander the earth in every way. We walk the land, swim in the sea, and fly in the sky. In search of what? And we keep walking, swimming and flying because we are afraid it can’t be found." We receive these emotions in moments, precious moments that are meant to live forever in our memories. And maybe that is what life is, finding your own series of beautiful, unique moments and placing them on a timeline of your life. Maybe things won’t always stay the same or be 100% what you picture, but there is something to be learned in every moment and every experience. So embrace the experiences you are going to have, in this trip and in life because they are uniquely yours. They will shape you, and make you realize things about yourself. Your wants, what you don’t want, what you like about yourself and even what you don’t like. But don’t beat yourself up over those negative thoughts, because when you are alone over there they can be a little overpowering, but know that recognition is the first step to change.

This is your time to do what ever you want. But don’t let that make you feel pressured to do it all, because it all can never be done. Know that if you want it to, you can make it happen again. While being abroad I met so many people who made travelling a lifestyle, not just a one-time thing. They made me realize this isn’t my only chance for a grand adventure. I can have one any time I want, if I choose to make it happen. I also changed my definition of a grand adventure. It doesn’t have to be something like going to Spain or Italy, it can be a walk around town, or a trip to a friends house.

While in Morocco, we had a really cool hippie lady/yoga instructor as one of our leaders. On our last night there she read us some awesome quotes that really resonated with me and may have been one of the most important lessons I have learned. She said “The pilgrimage changes lives, whether we go halfway around the world or out to our own backyards. What matters is whether we go in as we go out. I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out until sunset, for going out, I found was really going in. The challenge is to learn how to carry over the quality of your journey into your every day life. The art of the pilgrimage is the craft of taking time seriously and elegantly. What every traveler confronts sooner or later is that the way we spend each day of our travel, is the way we spend our lives. Inspired by our journey perhaps we can learn the 'true' life we were searching for in here, where our travels and our home overlap. For only then shall we know that the end of our explorations will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Know that things will not be the same when you get back, and school will be harder and things will be tough again, but keep this in mind. I think this is the most important part of travelling, learning how to handle life when you get back. It is exciting to go back home and look at a place you once found boring as an exciting adventure, but this time an even deeper adventure because it is with people and a place already close to your heart. Through my journey both before during and after traveling I realized that I want to always be open to the world and the lessons it teaches; To be like a sponge, absorbent and flexible.

You are going to have the time of your life. But know it’s okay if you have down days too. People don’t realize that being abroad isn’t all beautiful pictures and too good to be true memories. It is hard, hard to learn to be truly alone, hard to not be able to connect with people and hard in the sense it makes you rethink about yourself and your life. But it is also beautiful. Beautiful in the way that you learn to embrace the adventures that go wrong, because they are the best stories. Beautiful in the way that you do connect with certain people and learn from people literally from another world than you, beautiful in the way that you learn to appreciate your home, your friends and family and where you come from on a deeper level then ever before. Beautiful in that you appreciate yourself in a way that you never have before. Just know that learning all of this doesn’t always come at once. I felt bad a lot of the time I was there because I felt like I never had a life changing moment. But maybe there aren’t life-changing moments, like I said before, we have a series of moments that are up to us to place on a timeline and interpret. To be honest I learned most of this this semester, after I had struggled and failed a lot. And to be honest, I learned a whole new set of things while typing this to you tonight. Know that every time you look back at your journey you will see new things.

I hope you learn and experience everything that you want to. Read this whenever you feel lonely or sad and know that whenever you are missing home, home is missing you too.