As I reflect on my time here abroad there are so many memories, but one meaningful moment during my global experience that left a particularly positive impact on me was my trip to Positano, Italy. Not only was Positano so beautiful, but the people and the places we got to explore were what really made the trip. My friend had visited me from the states during this particular weekend and so we agreed to plan a trip to the Amalfi Coast since it was a place that we both had on our bucket list.
On the way there, we had a few travel complications when we realized we had purchased the wrong time for our train tickets. Once we had gotten that situated, we arrived in Naples. From there, we were greeted by a driver in who drove us along with two other girls from Naples to Positano. This leg of the trip was around an hour drive, but during this time, we got to learn more about where the other girls were visiting from. The girls had asked the driver if they could play music and the first song that came on was DtMF by Bad Bunny. Immediately I remarked how I loved Bad Bunny and had asked where they were visiting from. One of the girls had replied that they were both from Mexico, but she was studying English in Scotland and her friend was visiting her from Mexico for the week. We were communicating in English and I had told her my friend from home was also visiting and we continued our conversation asking about age, places travelled, and how we both enjoyed studying abroad. As we continued driving, they had queued a number of Latin music along with some Italian music and all of us were enjoying it together. Our driver too was engaged in both the conversation and the music and it reminded me how despite certain language barriers, people are able to connect with one another through music.
When we had arrived to our Airbnb, our host was not only so welcoming but on the side he had a little notebook where guests they hosted previously could write about their stay and time in Positano. Towards the end of our stay, I wrote about our time in Positano and they had a section on the notebook where the guests could write where they were visiting from. As I was flipping through what the guests before us had wrote, I saw people from all over the world that had come to stay at the same place as us. Some had come from Australia, Korea, Austria, Spain, China, France, and all over the U.S.. I thought it was so cool how people from all over the world were coming to the same place to experience the same sights, food, and culture as us.
What made this experience so meaningful was not just the beauty of Positano, but the reminder that studying abroad is about more than visiting new places. It is also about the unexpected connections you make with people from different backgrounds. This experience had a positive impact on me because it made me more open-minded and helped me appreciate how shared moments, like music and conversation, can bring people together despite language barriers. It helped me grow by showing me that the people I meet and the connections I make are just as important as the places I visit.
