Over the last two weeks, I have been able to travel France, Belgium and the Netherlands as part of a group of lacrosse players with American International Sports Teams, an organization that sends different sports teams all over the world to compete on an international stage. Before this trip, my passport's only important use was to get me over to Canada.

One of my favorite travel quotes after this experience was from Mary Anne Radmacher who said, "I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world." I can assure you that I will never be the same after my experience. Anyone who has the ability needs to go explore all corners of this Earth. This by far was the greatest lesson of my journey.

I also think that the United States could take some lessons from this part of the world and how things are done. First off, anyone who has a driver's license should learn to drive how they do over here. When you first see this madness of cars just trying to get where they're going, it shocks you. Then you realize after three days that you've yet to see one traffic accident. (On my way from Montgomery, AL to my home in Florida, which is about a 500 mile drive, I saw three accidents going just one way!) After these shocking realizations you go and look up some statistics. According to a report from the World Health Organization, the United States has approximately 10.6 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Meanwhile over here in Europe, the Netherlands, Belgium and France had approximately 3.1, 6.7 and 5.1 fatalities, respectively. Also, I know us Americans love modern skyscrapers (In Brussels, there is a street of very tall buildings called "Little Manhattan"), but something can be said about the beauty of cobble stone streets and original buildings. The history behind where you walk in Europe can give you chills.

I also learned there are a lot of misconceptions about how foreign people live. For example, I was told that everyone in France smells because they rarely shower. From my experience, a high school football team after a Friday night game smells worse than France, and they have no more people over here failing to use some sort of deodorant than we do in the United States. Also, it is not legal to smoke weed in Amsterdam, it's just tolerated. Also, as made evident by the very rude bikers who tried to run me over, most people who are from here don't smoke weed. Trust me, if they did they probably wouldn't be so dang cranky all the time.

If you do travel, travel with people. The friends I made on this journey will last me a lifetime and more. When you get to explore the world with such amazing people, you come away with so much more than a million pictures and souvenirs.

I discovered this love for travel that I hope never leaves me, and I cannot wait to see where my next adventures take me. For now, I am just three planes and one car away from home.