Welcome one and all to my travel blog page! As a warning, I'm not actually expecting this journal to last me through December 23rd, but I'm going to try my darndest to make it happen-especially considering the lack of memory I seem to retain. So this blog is just as much for me as it is for everyone else who's willing to take a gander at my sub-par public blogging skills.
Here's the scoop up until this point- I had always intended to go abroad in college, who wouldn't want to spend months of your life meeting internationals and feasting upon the sights that the world has to offer? UW- Eau Claire, which is the university I attend, has a beautiful study abroad program, which I didn't realize until I got there. In short, I went to the study abroad fair and fell in love with the idea of studying at the University of Aberdeen, which was established in 1495 along the north-east coast of Scotland :) I had no intention of actually applying for the program my first semester of school- for goodness sakes, I had never been out of the country and the only time I'd gone on a plane was my trip to DECA Nationals (holla!) But a certain girl (*cough* Alissa *cough*) convinced me to go to the United Kingdom informational meeting, and then three days before the application was due I decided to just go for it and apply! Fast forward, and here I am, seven days away from my flight to Scotland.
So here's an introduction to my next coming four months: My intention is to study for my minor in school, Environmental Science, because they have a lovely program. My friend from school, Jayd, and I will be flying to Aberdeen to drop our bags off and begin our two and a half week excursion around Europe (honestly, this sentence sounds like a dream, I love it!) Our path of destruction will commence in Krakow, Poland. And will then be followed by Salzburg, Austria/Bern, Switzerland/(a very short stop in Milan)/Turin, Italy/ and Barcelona, Spain! We're doing something a little crazy in lieu of staying in hostels: we'll be experiencing Europe through Couchsurfing, an established program which allows people to crash in homes all over the world! This may seem sketchy to some (I was hesitant, too! There are security precautions to keep it safe), but it provides two outrightly alluring qualities: 1) IT'S FREE and 2) We get to meet locals in every city-which provides a less 'touristy' route to traveling abroad as well as being able to truly see the 'gems' of the city (the hosts that we will be staying with often give their time to show their 'surfers/us' their city!!)
Needless to say, I am both giddy and righteously nervous, I honestly can't wait for the logistics of the transportation situation to be complete and the excitement of the backpacking to begin.
I am so blessed to be able to go on this adventure and I hope you'll enjoy coming along with me in spirit for this journey of a life time!
Cheers! (which I have quickly realized is a European 'ta-ta!', I love it!)
P.S. I would love to have some interaction with my readers (if any haha) so feel free to comment or ask questions :D
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| Here's just a glimpse of the University :) |
