By the age of 18, I’ve visited 21 US states, four countries and have been on two different continents. I’ve taken road trips as long as three full days of driving cross country and as short as a few hours to visit New York City.

With the boom of social media culture and influencers on apps like Instagram and Twitter sharing their travels and paid vacations from travel companies, people want to travel more than ever. They tell tales of gorgeous hotels, beautiful scenery and luxurious experiences.

Although this may seem obvious, I’m going to tell you this now: they’re lying to you.

Traveling isn’t, and shouldn’t, be easy.

Although the beautiful scenery and amazing cultures aren’t a lie, it isn’t always as easy as hopping on a flight and being picked up at the airport. What you don’t see are the hiccups and missteps that inevitably happen on every trip.

It’s within these hiccups and missteps where the true memories are made.

Picture this: The first time I made a major trip without my parents, or any family, was in the summer of 2017. I visited France and Italy with the language department from my high school.

Seeing Paris has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. My bedroom is decorated with French décor, and I’m planning on studying French as a minor when I go to college next fall.

The second I stepped off of that plane at Charles De Gaul Airport, my life was changed forever. I was on an adrenaline high for the first few hours we were there.

I was living my dream.

I knew before we arrived that it would be slightly warmer than normal due to a heat wave hitting France while we’d be there. What I didn’t expect was absolutely no air conditioning in most of the places we’d go. Unexpected, but I was in the city of my dreams, so I didn’t mind.

In the midst of the 100 degrees Fahrenheit weather, we had some free time on our last day in the city. We had around three hours to ourselves to roam around the Latin Quarter of Paris where the Notre Dame is located.

I was lost in Paris for two hours trying to find a Louis Vuitton store (we eventually found it, and it was air-conditioned). In those two hours, my friend and I both got pick-pocketed in the middle of a little alleyway.

They stole some money, but luckily nothing else.

I still remember those two hours more clearly than anything in that entire summer. Although in the moment we were slightly freaked out by the fact that we got lost in another country where neither of us could speak the language very well, I honestly look back at it and laugh.

For the last hour of our alone time, we sat outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral and laughed about our situation. I ate my very first real French Crepe. It’s still one of my favorite days out of the entire trip.

Once we left Paris for Southern France, I knew things would slow down a bit. Although it was still so hot that I was constantly sweating and was drinking water every second that I could, I still loved traveling.

However, with heat comes sun, and of course, I needed to wear sunscreen to protect myself from turning into a cherry tomato on my trip overseas.

Little did I know I was allergic to my sunscreen.

I woke up one day and had little red bumps all over my chest and arms. I felt self-conscious, but once again, I wasn’t about to let that ruin my trip.

I bought a new shirt to cover up the rash on my chest and enjoyed my last days in Europe. I made homemade pizza in Rome and walked around Pompeii and ate some of the best gelato that Italy had to offer.

Through the eyes of my social media accounts, my trip looked beautiful. I still think about my trip every single day, and I can’t wait to go back.

Although my trip had some hiccups, it’s within these hiccups and mistakes that I really have the best memories. The story of my trip goes way deeper than the pictures on my Instagram.

But, I wouldn’t trade my memories for the world.