Spontaneous 2 Month Europe Trip? – How it Happened & Lifelong Memories
Life is truly just so unexpected. And I don’t say this with a negative connotation to it. Instead of spending the spring semester of my senior year studying abroad in Singapore, I ended up deciding to cancel & graduate (with only a couple days left until the graduation deadline oops) in mid December 2021. How did I go from looking forward to that study abroad trip to spending 2 months in Europe? Read on for my story.
First – What led me to this trip
Having looked forward to that study abroad trip for 8 months, I couldn’t believe it was over, just like that. Following that decision, I always said I needed to go SOMEWHERE…anywhere, to make that decision worthwhile.
I knew that it was not in my best interest to spend another semester in college- taking a couple blow-off classes that I did not care for, paying thousands for tuition and housing, finding excuses to avoid all the goals I had set for myself. “I’m too tired from my schoolwork to start a blog, I deserve a break so I’ll go hang out with friends or binge a show”.. These sorts of excuses plagued me and always had me contemplating, what can I do with my life. Yeah, I do regret not getting to spend that final semester with friends, but I felt that this was my last chance to really do what I wanted and learn about the world around me.. and myself.
note: I do want to preface this by saying I am grateful and fortunate to have had money saved up from previous work experiences as well as my parents having remote jobs to be able to travel with me.
Why 2 Months?
Fast forward to January 2022. Asia was still closed, which cancelled out half of my bucket list travel plans. By chance, I had met a friend of a friend the previous semester who also planned to graduate early and travel, so I threw out the crazy idea of traveling around Europe together. If we were both planning to go solo anyway, why not go together and double the fun? We barely knew each other at that point, and even throughout our “planning”, we didn’t communicate that much. However, over the course of our one month together we learned a lot about each other and made so many great memories. I now consider her a really good friend of mine! It’s times like these that I think about how travel can really bring people together. You get to bond over crazy experiences that you might not have had otherwise.
Anyways, before we knew it, we were buying tickets to Europe. And no, we did not plan out everything ahead of time. Heck, we had bought flights that were supposed to takeoff in 2 weeks. At the end of January, we really went from confirming with each other that yes, this trip was indeed happening – to buying tickets from Dallas to Madrid for February 7, 2022. I arbitrarily chose my dates for Feb 7 to April 7. I pretty much hadn’t planned anything besides throwing in a couple of cities for the first month with my friend. Being the type A person that I am, I was stressed. However, I thought this trip was really for me to go with the flow because I didn’t know what to expect. This is how I spent those 2 months:
- Madrid – 3 days
- Barcelona- 3 days
- Paris – 8 days
- Brussels – 1 day
- Amsterdam – 3 days
- London – 4 days
- Milan – 3 days
- Venice – 1.5 days
- Florence – 4 days
- Rome – 4 days
- Cinque Terre – 2 days
- Milan – 2 days
- Lake Como – 2 days
- Montreux, Switzerland – 2.5 days
- Zermatt – 2.5 days
- Interlaken – 3 days
- Zurich – 3 days
Best / Fun Memories
I honestly have so many amazing memories from those 2 months, from staring in awe at beautiful architecture to funny travel mishaps with my friend to some of the best meals of my life. Here are just a few:
- My first day in Madrid just exploring the city – it really hit then that this trip was happening
- Casa Batlló in Barcelona
- Duck Confit in Paris
- Seeing Monet & Van Gogh’s artwork
- Walking around different neighborhoods with no destination in mind – just chatting with my friend
- All of Italy with my mom
- My dad emphasizing how he wanted to stay in Geneva, no matter what, only for me to realize the hotel he booked (and looked forward to) wasn’t even in Geneva, but an hour away by train
- any too many more to name…
The not so fun memories…
Of course the good outweigh the bad, but here are a couple of experiences I don’t want to relive:
- Watching the doors to the train in Brussels close right in front of us having to sit in the cold train station for 2 hours waiting for the next one.. rip
- having my phone stolen in London… in a ZARA of all places…
- trying to get home on a cold rainy night in London when there was a tube strike – tube was closed for the day, no one could book an uber, and buses were so packed they didn’t make their normal stops… so chaotic
- missing a lot of the outdoor scenery in Switzerland due to it raining & snowing pretty much everyday we were there:(
Overall thoughts:
Often times, I’ll find myself scrolling through my camera roll and smiling as I recall the memories I’ve associated with these pictures and videos. I was lucky enough to go to so many places and really make the most of my time there. I wouldn’t trade these memories for anything, but being there had me constantly reflecting.
Having seen so many different cultures & lifestyles, it’s hard not to compare my life in the US with that of Europeans. There’s some things I can’t help but wish we had and other aspects of the US I miss. Upon returning home, I’ve tried to make a conscious effort to emulate the small lifestyle differences I loved about Europe. Examples include trying to spend more time with those I love & savoring the moments we have together to being more wary of the food I put into my body. I think every trip has the ability to teach you new things and I hope to make every trip a meaningful experience for myself. I hope that you are able to do the same, in whichever way you find meaning.
If you want to read more about what I learned from this trip, you can read my post here.
Wishing you safe travels,
Cindy
