Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had a desire to travel. I boarded my first flight to New York City when I was eight years old, and since then I haven't been able to sit still. I would come home from one trip and immediately plan the next; this is how I ended up going to Europe at 18 years old. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to travel abroad after I graduated high school, and I jumped on it. It was a short trip, but a lot of valuable lessons that I didn't expect to learn were packed into those 12 days.
First, I learned that less is more. I have always been notorious for overpacking, and this time around I thought I did really well with cutting back, considering my bag was only 38 pounds when the limit was 50. A few days into the trip, however, I came to the realization that I brought a lot of things that I didn't need and just wasted space in my bag. It sounds scary, but trust me, it is possible to make it through two weeks without your entire wardrobe on hand.
Second, I learned the importance of living in the moment. I have always struggled between the mentality of "these are once in a lifetime opportunities, I need to take as many pictures as possible" and "I don't want to spend this time behind a camera or phone screen". I used to take a ridiculous amount of pictures when I would travel, but when I would look back at the photos, I wouldn't remember the moment, I'd just remember taking the picture. This time I cut back a lot with the photography, and I don't regret it. I'd rather share memories than pictures anyway.
Third, I learned that traveling in Europe is not as unsafe as most people may think. I do not recall a single moment where I felt threatened or at-risk, even when I was walking alone through cities at night. The biggest area of concern was avoiding getting my wallet or phone stolen. Other than that, Europe was considerably safe especially compared to America.
Last, and most importantly, I learned the value of living every day to the fullest. There was limited time in every city, so it was important to make the most of it. There were no days to sleep in and no nights off, because that's just time wasted. I learned more in those two weeks than I had in my entire life, and while it was nice to come home I'm eager to get back out there and see what else the world has to offer.
