A Trip of a Lifetime... and I'm Ready!

As you may already know, I am studying abroad this upcoming semester… yep, that means I will be out of the country from January until May. First and foremost, I would like to say that this amazing opportunity is not lost on me. I am incredibly lucky to have the ability to travel and study abroad. I would like to thank everyone who has encouraged my aspirations of studying abroad in college; without your support I would not be able to do this, so thank you.

So what exactly am I doing, you ask? Well, let me tell you! I have chosen a program that allows me to travel throughout the semester. For the next 18 weeks, I will be traveling to England, Denmark, and Italy - all while living in college apartments with other students affiliated with my program. With each “block” in a different country, I will be taking two classes and traveling around each country on the weekends. Starting off my first six weeks in London, I will be taking Global Environmental Policy and Peace and Conflict Studies. My second block in Copenhagen will consist of two Communication classes: International Journalism and Free Speech in Denmark. And my third and final block in Rome, I will be in Music and Society and A City within a City: The Vatican and Rome. Needless to say, I am pumped for my courses this semester!

Now that we got the logistics out of the way, I’d like to share my objectives behind this travel blog. Goal #1: I want this blog to be a place to share my experiences and travels with you. Hopefully, this will be a platform for you to continue to stay updated and in touch with me. Which leads me to goal #2… staying in touch with you! On the “Contact” page of this blog, you can send me a message. As my day-to-day life and availability will change once I am abroad, this is the best way to reach me. While I will be fairly busy throughout the semester, I will do my best to email you back as soon as I can. Goal #3: Share some cool photos! While I will be periodically updating my Facebook and Instagram accounts, you will be able to find all my photos here. And finally, goal #4 is to share with you an honest and inside look on studying abroad. I hope to share my authentic study abroad experience with you. And yes, that means the good, the bad, the stressful, the anxiety-filled, amazing, (and hopefully) life-changing experience that is ahead of me.

Speaking of being honest, to wrap up my first-ever blog post, I’d like to share my overall emotions toward my fast approaching adventure. Over the past five months, I have tried to ignore all my anxious feelings toward my trip. I tried to avoid these emotions by telling myself that I had to focus on my fall semester, work, finals, etc. Well, it has come time to face these emotions, as I leave for the airport to catch my flight on Sunday, January 6th… T-minus 3 days to be exact. I am still feeling an underlying anxiety towards my travels that has yet to subside but I am learning to accept the idea that I really don’t know what will happen. I’ve planned for the big things, I have my passport and all necessary papers ready, my suitcase is packed. No matter how much planning I do, I will never be 100% ready… and (as some of you know) that makes me kinda nervous. This fear of the unknown (as my professor, Patty, has told me) is completely normal and expected. I have tried my best to set few expectations on this trip as well as to be open and ready for all that lies ahead. And with that, while I am still apprehensive about day-to-day living abroad (airport navigation, grocery shopping, language barriers, public transportation, and currency exchanges… to name a few), I think I am ready. I am ready to learn about different cultures, meet new people, see some pretty amazing places, and most of all… I am ready to grow as a student, a person, and a global citizen.

With that, thank you for traveling with me on this journey. I am excited to share my experiences with you!

Until next time,

Olivia