The summer of 2014 was one of the most life-changing summers I had ever experienced. I actually think about that summer on a daily basis, and that is not an exaggeration. I have pictures hanging up in my office so I can swivel my computer chair around and be brought back to a time when I focused only on living in the moment. I learned so much about myself that summer and when it was over I knew I would have a hard time fitting back into a normal routine.

I realize how cliché this all sounds. I know that at times I can sound pretentious when I talk about the countries I have visited. I completely admit that I don’t know everything about being a world traveler, nor do I think I am better than anyone else for spending time gallivanting through parts of Europe. However, I do know that those experiences ultimately changed my outlook and attitude on my own life. I also know that since then I spend more time dreaming of going on another great adventure. I could research new places to visit for hours and hours.

I was bitten by that travel “bug” that everyone who travels talks about. It is a real thing, and since that summer I find myself struggling to fit into the mundane routine of normalcy.

When I left in early July 2014 I was freshly graduated from college. I was working at a ranch resort in the Adirondacks just 20 minutes from my house. I spent my days making reservations for the wealthy city people who could pretend to be “country” for a weekend. I organized a tiny gift shop, jam-packed with tacky cowboy trinkets that were clearly overpriced. I’m not saying it was a terrible job to have, and I didn’t necessarily dislike the job, either. I just had a difficult time dealing with my desire to do something different for myself, which was a stark contrast to what I was actually doing.

I began thinking about being somewhere else and wondering where that “somewhere else” could actually be. I thought about moving away but didn’t know where I wanted to be or how I would pay for such an elaborate move. I think I was sitting in the storage attic at work, organizing boxes of useless souvenirs when I had the brilliant idea to travel. I thought about the places I had always dreamt of visiting “one day”.

Finally, I realized I had been putting off doing anything significant for myself and by myself. I had gone through a couple of ridiculously awful “relationships” (if you could even call them that) and a previous year of loss that kind of left me bitter. I thought to myself about what I really had left to lose, and I started to become physically uncomfortable with routine.

I remember saying I should backpack Europe like many undecided twenty-somethings' think about doing. At first, it was kind of a joke, not something I pictured I would actually do so soon. Then, the idea became more of an obsession and I endlessly researched places I could go, how expensive this would be, when I would actually go and how I could go to multiple countries on my own.

When I finally put my month-long planning into action, it was time for me to fly across the ocean and land in London to start my two-month trek. I started in the U.K. and Ireland, then went through many parts of Europe. I did one month of group tours and am so glad I did. I made friends with such fantastic people. The second month was on my own and just as adventurous, and I met so many more awesome people. My mom even joined me in Italy for two weeks, which was so incredible.

There is something so freeing about taking the time to live like that for yourself. I woke up each day excited to get lost and experience a totally new place every day.

I learned even more about myself during my travels. I found out that I could rely on myself and that I had the ability to get from place to place without any help. I learned how to decipher new languages without any kind of practice or guide. I found that I actually could be outgoing and social because when you are staying in hostels and hotels with strangers you make friends so easily. You meet people who are searching for that something that you are searching for, too. I felt like I had not totally lived my life until those moments.

I am also not saying this was an easy trip. When I got back people assumed I should not complain about needing a vacation. If you think packing a backpack of a few essential items for two months is easy, I assure you, it is not. If you assume walking miles on end for almost two moths straight is not tiring, then I will tell you that I have never been so exhausted in my life, but I had also never had legs that looked that good either. If you feel that going country to country is full of luxury and pure relaxation, then you are sadly mistaken.

Sharing a room with 12 people is weird. Getting lost in the rain after your train doesn’t show up in Belgium so you decide to take an overnight bus, instead, is terrifying and very uncomfortable. Walking around the red-light district of Amsterdam with one of your other female friends, drunk, is much more terrifying after you are approached by a group of foreign men actually trying to recruit you for exactly what you would expect them to try to recruit you for in Amsterdam.

When you travel you become physically and emotionally stronger. When you travel you learn how to think quickly in difficult situations. When you travel you become resourceful and can problem-solve through any situation thrown at you. When you travel you find out how much you thrive off of change. When you travel you make friends of every background you never would have imagined yourself befriending. Your mind opens more, you are less afraid of the unknown because every day is full of unknown people, places and things.

No one explains how hard it is to come back home from your endless adventures and feel like you have grown and changed far quicker than your surroundings.

No one explains how you could travel for two months, shift your way of thinking and go home with a list twice the size of your first one with more places you need to visit. This is not a want versus need situation. This is purely the drive and the overwhelming need to experience new places and meet more new people.

I find myself thinking about my summer in 2014, and wondering when I will get to another place in this world. I have a long list of places I need to be in, and it is not my office or the hometown I am all too familiar with.

I just hope Dom is prepared for a future of “where to next?” because my travel bug bite is itching, and the only cure is a plane ticket.