I feel very fortunate to be able to say that traveling has always been a huge part of my life. My parents made it a priority to travel as a family, and whether it was to Mexico, New York, or Brazil, they always brought me along for the ride. They showed me the importance and the value of seeing the world, and provided me with a solid foundation to build up from. In the seven weeks I've been trekking around Europe, I've learned a lot about what it means to travel and step outside my comfort zone.
Travel is not necessarily a vacation.
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I just returned to my campus in Rome from a 10-day "fall break" trip. I visited London, Paris, and Florence, and it was hardly a break. I filled my days with museums, sightseeing, and public transportation (those of you who know me know that this is a big step). It wasn't really a time for me to rest and rejuvenate; days turned into late nights, sleep was rare, and it was overwhelming most of the time. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. I think people have the idea that traveling is this glamorous endeavor and you're always relaxed and loving it, but it isn't. It's so much more than laying on a beach: it's walking the streets of a city that you've wanted to see since you were a kid, it's FINALLY seeing Big Ben and realizing it should probably be called Average Ben (spoiler alert), it's spending a whole lot of time getting lost and enjoying every minute.
You will struggle.
You'll take the wrong bus, you'll miss a flight, you'll get lost… It happens to us all. The struggles of traveling have shown me that nearly everything is fixable, and that the mishaps can lead to some great things. You might take the wrong bus but end up discovering a great restaurant; you'll miss a flight, but get to stay in a nice hotel and catch up on sleep; you'll get miserably lost, but there will be a gelato shop around the corner. Take it in stride.
The good memories far outweigh the hard times.
There are so many things to see, people to meet, and experiences to be had -- at the end of it all, you'll be amazed at how lucky you are; and you'll be beyond proud of yourself for pulling it off. The 10-day trip I just finished brought me to some of the greatest people and memories of my entire experience studying abroad. Sure, traveling is difficult (see above if you need a refresher), but you never know what's in store for you, and that's what adventure is all about. I have more good memories from the past seven weeks than I could have ever hoped for, and those are the things I'll hold onto -- not the time I missed my flight and was nearly stranded in Paris.
I like to think I've had the travel bug since my first trip to Mexico at eight months old. Something about walking a foreign city and boarding a plane to a new one feels so natural; I think it's just in my blood to want to travel. I'm so grateful that my parents instilled this in me, because now I have the opportunity to see the world for myself, but I've also got a lot of experience under my belt, which makes the hard times not SO hard (I did FaceTime my mom crying in the Paris airport when I missed that flight, though). If you have the money, the time, the resources… Travel. You will not regret it.
