Three weeks have passed by since I have arrived in Nantes, France for my five-week study abroad program. In this short time, I have made many friends and memories that will last a lifetime. While taking classes is important, as I have learned many things, it is the people and experiences that have taught me the most. Being subjected to new ways of thinking and different cultures other than my own have widened my knowledge of the world immensely. This is knowledge that I will carry on with me throughout my lifetime.

Upon my arrival to Nantes on a Wednesday, I had the privilege of meeting many people from all corners of the world, including the UK, France, Mexico, Germany, and China. I also met a few people from Cincinnati and some fellow Louisville Cards. They invited me along on their trip they had planned for the weekend to Munich, Germany. Even though I had just gotten to France, I couldn’t resist the opportunity.

Having never been to Germany, Munich was an amazing experience. The friends I traveled with had a friend from Munich, Robert, who showed us around the city. Having lived there his whole life and being a student there, Robert was able to show us things that the normal tourist would never be able to experience. For instance, he invited us to his school on a Friday night where a crowd of the students gathered on the rooftop looking over the city, to watch the France-Romania soccer match on TV, as the Euro 2016 was taking place.

After returning from Munich and taking classes for a couple of weeks in Nantes, this past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Lisbon, Portugal.  Besides my face getting extremely sun burnt after a day on the beach, Lisbon is my favorite place I have ever traveled.  I would describe it as the San Francisco of Europe; the city, culture, and landscape are all very similar and quirky.  From laying on the beach to exploring the castles and hilly, cobblestone streets, Lisbon was a unique experience.  It’s a place that I can only hope to revisit.

So the moral of the story is when you are studying abroad, try to meet as many people as possible and take any (reasonable) opportunity that is thrown at you.  Not only will you get to go to cool places, but you will learn a lot about yourself and the world in which you live.

El viaje de mi vida, or “the trip of my lifetime”, is quickly approaching and I have been planning for it for over a month.  I remember sometime at the end of May, I sat down on my computer writing a 2 page list of things I needed to take, which bag to put them in, what I needed to buy, travel tips, and packing tips.  You could say…uh… I went a bit overboard, but I’m a planner–what can I say? Finally, the week has come where I will travel to the rainy, hot, humid, but relaxing country of Costa Rica. For three days I will set out with some family where we will stay at a resort and go on an excursion and then on July 2nd, I will begin my five week study abroad trip!

All I can feel right now is a mixture of nerves, excitement, unexpectancy, and anxiousness but I know that with all of the planning I have done, I will have a blast once I finally arrive! All of the preparation I have made for this trip has done two things: made me unbelievably ready and a bit anxious since I have been preparing for SO long. I believe that planning has a lot of power, but I urge you not to allow it to make you go crazy.

I have done all of the planning and packing that I can and now I am ready for a month of spontaneity, 28 hours of classes a week, and adventure! If there are any tips I could offer as far as packing goes it would be these:

1) Research the culture and weather to decide on what to wear.

2) Roll everything tightly and organize your clothes in your suitcase so things stay wrinkle free and are easy to find.

3) Pack some of your favorite snacks and put a jar of peanut butter in your checked bag.

4) Start packing your clothes at least a week ahead of time so you don’t over-pack.

5) Leave room for things you may bring home from the country.

6) Relax!!! If you go into it with a positive attitude you will be ready to go 🙂

I cannot wait to share all of the memories I create and journeys I go on with each of you and I hope everyone reading this gains something out of it and develops or gains a stronger passion for travel and adventure. Pura vida!!  (the popular Costa Rican saying for “Pure Life”)

Like so many other Americans, Brexit wasn’t really on my radar. In fact, if I didn’t intern in an international office with United Kingdom citizens, I probably wouldn’t have known what it was at all. If I didn’t know before, I certainly do now.

I arrived in France only a week ago to start my study abroad classes in the beautiful city of Nantes at Audencia. My first topic of choice? The EU: History, Institutions, and International Relations. How fitting that I would have the opportunity to broaden my knowledge of the European Union the week in which history would be made and the Union changed forever.

Did we cover the Brexit? Absolutely. We discussed possible scenarios either way the vote turned, the reasons it was happening, and anything and everything in between. However, I don’t think anyone actually believed they would vote to leave. While our esteemed professor admitted he wasn’t sure what would happen or the exact consequences should it occur, he liked to quote statistics in which staying in the union seemed favorable. Then, the day actually came.

Everyone woke up Friday morning, and by the time my homestay-mates and I made it to breakfast it was confirmed–the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union. We were shocked! None of us believed that would be the outcome of the vote. Naturally, when we got to school it was all anyone could talk about. Our European Union class was focused on the new EU crisis of the day, the official Brexit. Our professor from Strasbourg allowed us to have our phones out so we could update one another on the news as it became available, such as David Cameron resigning and different countries or party leaders stating they would lead a referendum. All of a sudden, it seemed like the only thing we knew about the situation was that we knew nothing at all. It seems this is all we will know for a while as the United Kingdom has to negotiate with the European Union, but perhaps the longer we don’t know the better as it will allow the excitement that has erupted within the union to settle.

All in all, so many people are wondering the impact Brexit will have on the future of the European Union, the global economy, and shaping modern history as we know it…and Americans didn’t seem to know anything about it until it was too late.

This past weekend was the last weekend I would be in Europe. So naturally, my friends and I made plans to travel one last time. This trip was a bit different than any of our other trips because we decided to take a plane. In hindsight, I realize that probably wasn’t the best idea.

It’s true, it will be one of the most eye opening, liberating, exciting, amazing times in your life. There is no way around it. But what no one tells you is how exhausting it is. Unless you are fifteen different types of superperson, you cannot possibly travel to twelve countries in 20 days and not be exhausted. Even 12 cities in 20 days is outrageous. Sure, there is enough time to show up, take pictures, and go on to the next place, but you miss what traveling is really all about.

With all due respect, you can only see so many churches before they all start looking the same. If you go from one European city to another without taking time to fully stop and appreciate what is different about each individual one, the same applies to cities. Europe is not going anywhere, but I STRONGLY URGE you to be realistic about your energy reserves. Plan an extra day to go to the beach and nothing else. Know that if you’re traveling for a month, two of those days you should be able to just relax and talk and reflect and read and be immobile.

I say this because I learned the hard way through Barcelona. One of the most amazing cities (from what I have been told) I spent burnt out and completely unable to appreciate because every moment I was experiencing the city, I was thinking about experiencing my bed. Two days is not enough to experience any city larger than 50 sqkm, so do yourself a favor and wittle down that ”to do and see” list to a more traveler-friendly version. I promise you’ll thank yourself later. These places are amazing, so take the time they merit to sift through and figure it out for yourself. Tripadvisor can only do so much.

And P.S. I promise there are better restaurants than those on main streets. Turn left, turn right, get lost, and stumble into a place without a sign, it’ll be the best food you’ve ever tasted. xo

I’ve been in Europe for only two weeks now and I have never walked so much in my life. We walk to and from school, to the grocery store, to restaurants. Anywhere you could imagine. There is a sufficient public transport system, yet we all decide walking is a better way to explore.

Maybe my surprise is due to the fact that I come from a smaller town and go to school in a relatively small city as well. But before arrival, I was expecting Lille to be a city similar to the size of Louisville. After all, not many people have even heard of Lille, France. You can see my shock when I arrived and realized that this is practically the only city in the northern part of the country and it is the fourth largest in France.

Needless to say, with all of the walking that I have been doing with the friends I have met here has not dismayed us from traveling to other cities and walking around there as well. This week we took a train to Brussels to see all of the sites that everyone talks about. Then, we took another train to Bruges, a small Belgium town that looks like it is straight out of a fairytale book. At the end of the day, the fitness app on my phone had logged 13 miles. That’s 13 miles of walking around cities and seeing things from the beautiful gold trimmed Town Hall in Brussels to the swans swimming through the canals in Bruges.

Everyone studies abroad for different reasons. I’ve realized the main reason I came to Europe was to travel and see more of Europe. I’m very grateful to be able to have this opportunity and to have already walked around such beautiful cities like Brussels, Bruges, Amiens, Roubaix, and of course Lille.

I’m on my way to Paris this morning and will no doubt be doing more walking. Maybe I’ll log another 13 miles.