My time in Stockholm was just as impactful and exciting as I was expecting, while also bringing about a familiarity I wasn’t sure I would find. My first personal goal, and what I was hoping for when I pictured my time abroad, was to feel grounded and comfortable in a place so brand new and far from home. I have traveled many times with my family since I was very young, and my favorite parts have always been mundane days where I just get a sense of my surroundings and enjoy a city’s natural beauty (obviously along with seeing great sights and cool adventures). However, I never get a truly grounded feeling. Since we want to see as much as possible in a 1-2 week period, we often move hotels and cities multiple times per trip. It has always been hard to feel settled like I have always wanted to. Stockholm was the perfect city to do this in. The public transportation was a LOVELY change of pace, super easy and a more interactive way to commute. The city was calm and clean in the summer, with enough people to not feel deserted but not so many it felt like Rome or Paris in July. And over time, I loved the feeling of getting somewhere from memory or just trusting that if I saw a metro stop, I could make my way home from there without using a GPS. This is what I loved about getting comfortable in Pittsburgh, but it is a much different feeling doing this somewhere in a new country. And there were obviously a few advantages to doing this in a city like Stockholm with little to no language barrier and a similar communication style to the U.S. But I think this brought me a new confidence I didn’t even have in U.S. cities, so it was a nice feeling. I also wrote in my blog a couple of weeks ago about how this confidence in the city translated to my weekend in Budapest, and getting around that new place with ease felt so nice and new. 

Being in a new place also helped me remember what I really value doing in my spare time or just in any phase of my life to feel like myself. I found myself missing all of my art supplies, but spending even more time sketching with pencil in my little travel sketchbook. I started to miss my piano and guitar, and cooking in my home kitchen. I also realized how much I value spending time outdoors, since I got to do this so much in Stockholm. I told all of my friends that when I come home, we have to do more walking, hiking, and just getting together outside. Being away and a lot more on my own helped me get in touch with what I think about and crave doing the most. 

Professionally and academically, I got a nice idea of what I gravitate towards, but it wasn’t all that surprising. I got really excited whenever my supervisor mentioned a creative or visual task for us to complete. This included creating signage, diagrams, logos, and other designs for the company. Since the job itself wasn’t really in my professional field, I got to tap into my own personal creativity and aspirations, outside of my true professional goals but still aligned with what I enjoy doing. I also felt myself getting excited for the semester ahead. Doing work on my own reminded me of the parts I enjoy and look forward to at university. I felt a lot more motivated, and I think this productivity and energy will carry over in the fall.