Spring Break
Wow. What a journey. Coming from Italy, there has been such a mix of emotions. From dealing with new (and very different) personalities, to figuring out how to travel with so many other languages and cultures has been unlike anything else. I thought that coming to Italy would be such a change of mindset and way of looking at the world from a different perspective and it has for sure been just that. With this being said, the rest of Europe has also been the biggest eye-opener. Some people are rude, some don't speak english, most are looking at you like you are on a different planet but almost all of the places have tourist from everywhere. Having so many different people in one place is actually an advantage. You get to see all of the different ways people go about doing things and frankly, you get to see how everybody struggles just as much as you.
The food. Oh how different the food is from country to country. Having a "weinerschnitzel" for the first time to trying a genuine cheeseburger from the home of where the cheeseburgers come from is incredible. We have traveled from Venice, to Germany, to Poland, and finally, to The Czech Republic, and every single one of these places are so vastly different from one another yet so close together that it just makes the experience that much more of a surprise each time. It has opened my eyes so much to the idea of traveling and what to expect when not expecting something.
There's the constant idea while traveling that something WILL go wrong, and that will be okay. We have had issues on this trip where things have not gone as planned, we have paid extra for baggage, had a delay of a tour, and more. With all of that being said, we have lived. We learned that there was nothing that we could possibly do in the moment besides what we knew what to do and that helped with the process. I will continue to take that will be everywhere. It is so important to go in with an open mind and expect the worst while also continually being excited for what is to come.
Take in the culture.
Take in every piece of the culture that there is and just roll with it. If there is something on the menu that doesn't sound good, that's okay, try it anyway. If the airbnb doesn't open until 2 hours after you planned, no problem, go get a coffee and hang out with the people you came with, with your luggage in-hand. It is all about how you decide to put things in to your own hands and seeing how you can go about it from a positive way instead of a negative. In Italy, in Dr. Tarvin's class we learned about "yes, and". With the experience of traveling, I have been pulled in every direction possible and been stressed out to the absolute max. It is so important to me to keep that "yes, and" mentality with me in order to make it a positive experience and know that the best way to go about a bad experience, is to see if there is any way you can make it better, and just do it.
I have been able to learn so much in the time that I have been in Italy, and the three other countries I have visited in this one single week. Dr. Tarvin has taught me so much on how to look at everything around you with such an open mind. With the "yes, and" mentality, openness to new culture, and the drive to adventure past your limits, anything is possible.