Throughout my life and during this experience I have been fortunate enough to travel to many different countries around the world. I used to always have an itch to travel to a new destination and experience something new. But what I have realized, is that if you focus on the wrong things and go through travel to quickly, it all starts to blend together and feel the same. After visiting numerous different countries it started to fall into a routine. Guided walking tour, old churches, outdoor markets, museums, etc. It made me start to wonder why I ever bother leaving home because I could do all that stuff there. And what I have come to realize is that why I like to travel isn’t to do all  those things, but to interact with the people I meet there. That, to me, is what makes the experience worth it and special.

So during my summer abroad, I originally planned to country hop every other week. But after stepping back and reflecting on what the point was (and my bank account) I realized that I didn’t have to go so many places abroad to get what I wanted. I decided that what I wanted was to build real friendships and bonds with the people I meet and I think that could be done better by taking full advantage of the time I have here in Dublin.

At the end of this program, I can’t wait to come back and reflect on this and see how I did.