Traveling has always been a big part of my life as a child. My parents made sure to have my sister and I experience different cultures and adventures. When I started dating the guy I spent five years with, I lost that traveling side of myself. He was not someone that experienced anything other than Alabama football game and he dragged me down with him. Then we broke up and I had my secret guy that let me hibernate with him in the safety of his apartment while we came out of a broken place together. As he made me feel comfortable with who I am with out my ex I started to get that adventurous side out of me. I texted one of my friends that was a big part in helping me make myself do things and told her I wanted to go back packing in Europe. She was also the friend I lived with when I was teaching in England, so I knew I could count on her to say yes. I promised I was do all the work and she would just need to be ready to pack her bags. Now if you have ever back packed before then you are my hero. Just the planning alone was a lot of work and I was struggling with how to even start. I sat with my mom on the computer for hours trying to figure it out when all I knew were the dates we could go. Being the planner that I am, I wanted the whole trip planned from beginning till end before we left. I finally came upon a company during my research that changed everything. The company had a million trips that were planned out from how you get there, to where your staying, to excursion you can do. THIS WAS IT! Another friend jumped on board and the three of us book our trip to travel for 21 days and experience 10 different countries. 

Leading up to the trip my secret relationship was still a thing, but I was still honest with the fact that I did not want a relationship and I just wanted to continue to find out who I am and what I am looking for. He was very supportive, but also I could tell did not want me to leave. The school year was coming to a close. One of the girls and I had signed a lease to live together when we returning from Europe. Everything in my life finally felt like it was coming back together after breaking into a million piece puzzle that I never thought could be put back together. 

The trip we chose was for guys and girls 18-30 with the same mentality, experience culture during the day and party at night. Most the people going on the trip were people from other countries: Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, America. I was ready to leave my emotions in America and be who I wanted to be on this trip where no one knew me expect the friends I went with. 

The time came for us to go and I said good bye to my secret guy, but I did not know what that good bye was going to lead to. My parents drove me to the airport and for the first time was thought to myself, "Oh my god, what am I doing." It was too late to turn back. We boarded the plane to fly to London. 

We landed in London and went to the Basement where we checked in for our trip and checked into our hotel. We toured around London waiting for our first meet and greet to see who we were going to be with for the next 21 days. The time came for use to see the people we were traveling with and I was so nervous. It was like putting a bunch of people in a room around the same age, all sizing each other up, checking each other out, and forming opinions. After getting all the trip information, our group went to a pub to have some drinks and start the interview process. I say interview process, because I think everyone asked me the same questions every time I introduced myself: Where are you from? What do you do? Who did you come with? I met a guy from South Africa and he was so cool and has experienced so much, I definitely thought my life was really boring compared to him. I also met another group of Americans that were a fun group. The one girl in there group was awesome and she was someone I could see myself clicking with really quickly. The pub fun was coming to a close and we had to get ready to wake up at 7 a.m. to get on the bus and leave for France. 

That morning we woke up got ready (tried to look presentable so all the opinions about us were good) and went down to the bus. I have really bad motion sickness so me and the front of the bus were going to get to know each other really well. Luckily the awesome America I met the night before had the same problem so I knew I could count on her and her boyfriend to be familiar faces. My friends and I sat together on the bus the first couple of rides and then decided to sit with others to meet more people. My bus pal turned into the interesting South African who was full of stories and constantly making me laugh. 

We went to experience Paris and made our way to the French Rivera. By the time we got to the country side groups were formed, relationships were made, and I was definitely feeling home sick. My family is a huge part of my life and I really missed being around them. I even facetimed my secret guy and expressed my sadness. I was having fun, but was definitely being closed off and still trying to figure out how to act around all these people I did not know. The second night of being in the country I was sitting out on the lawn with my friends and some guys. The guy that sat next to me looked like a linemen on a football team, with a long beard, and tattoos. He was smoking a cigarette and he was THAT guy on the trip. The guy that was always ready for a good time, loud, and everyone liked him. As I talked to him I felt comfortable to have a conversation, but he was not my type so I was not trying to impress him. I was finally just being myself. We left the French Rivera to make our way to Italy. 

In Florence HE had eyes for me and in Rome we had eyes for each other.