I remember playing a video game from my childhood called "Twisted Metal" -- it was a car racing game for the PlayStation with elaborate maps and characters. When I played, I always chose the map that was set in Paris, France. It was my favorite map, but I had no clue then that I would walk the same Parisian streets many years later.

After I graduated high school, I took a tour with my friends and teachers to France and Italy. We spent two weeks abroad and we covered plenty of territory. But, I had three whole days alone with Paris. Reflecting on the trip, I now love the luminous city but had not appreciated it fully in 2012 when I was there. I had no expectations or standards when I bought my tickets for the tour. I figured it would be a nice vacation and since I just finished school, it seemed like the perfect break from my home life. What I did not anticipate was what I would gain from traveling.

We all hope that any length of a journey will change us someway -- mentally, physically or philosophically. I had hoped that flying 15 or so hours across a sea, being on my own and experiencing other cultures would help my mentality. At the time, there was not much of a change. I went to college almost immediately after coming home and Europe soon became a distant memory.

What I had gained was laying deep inside, and I had no clue. What I learned traveling abroad has effected my mentality and how I have continued on with my life. I was exposed to all kinds of people of many skin colors, religions and life styles. At the time, I was just experiencing European life and unaware of the impact the cultures would eventually have on me.

I learned how to be self sufficient. I was responsible for my own finances, safety, belongings and sense of self. Of course I felt lost and overwhelmed. I was 17 years old with much less life experiences than my friends. I had never held a job. I was without a driver's license. I had few friends when I graduated. I gained all of that and more in college, and I attest that partially to the effects Europe had on me. I was in charge of myself for once, and relied on no teacher or adult to keep me in line.

I learned how to navigate. Having previously relied on my phone or computer for a GPS, I was without that luxury in Europe. I was left with an old-fashioned, printed map that I was forced to learn in order to navigate the vast cities and not get lost. And I was perfectly fine. I even learned how metro subways worked and how to travel that way. By being thrown in headfirst without a crutch, or in this case a GPS, I become accustomed to navigating by signs and road names and not by Siri.

I learned how to be comfortable with myself. Being a girl in modern society, I had plenty of image problems in high school. By the time senior year ended, I had laid my demons to rest. But there is something different about being in a foreign place that really causes you to look inward on yourself and really focus on who you are as a person. My two weeks spent abroad opened my perception of myself. I got to know the real me and who I was as a person. In America, I was 17, female and blonde. But in Europe, I became this person who woke up before the other girls in my suite and watched life emerge on the streets of Paris, Rome or Monaco. I became this person who acquired a taste for espresso because the best of them come in miniature cups on saucers in little cafés in the alleys of Italy. I became this person who looked out over the Mediterranean Sea and saw the universe before me, and not just a body of water.

Traveling changed me. It opened my mind and soul as to what is out there in the world, and how I have only just scratched the surface. When I was in my hotel in Sorrento, I had a balcony. I sat outside and watched the sun set and knew that in those beautiful moments that there was more out there, and that I had to discover it. Traveling has made me view every aspect of my life differently and my ethical standpoint has changed. Traveling changed me for the better and I think it can for anyone. Whether it is just for the day in the city next to yours, for the weekend in a place hours away, or for months backpacking in another country... traveling can change you.

I was challenged in new ways. I was put under pressure. I was stretched thin.

I enjoyed myself. I loved my time overseas.

I brought back more than just souvenirs with me.