It’s about two weeks before I will travel to Europe for the first time, and I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that I was away on my trip in Europe and instead of taking a tour bus – we were parachuting out of planes, and swimming through muddy rivers to get to our next location. But no one, including the Contiki Tour guides told us about these adventures ahead of time.
What does this all mean? Well, certainly I was letting my anxiety and the feeling of unpreparedness get the best of me. So I figured I better get packing and tie up any loose ends before leaving for my trip.
Looking back, I don’t know why I didn’t study abroad for a semester. And I’m not quite sure why I didn’t go backpacking in Europe during one summer or after college. Actually, thinking about this more, it was really my self-limiting beliefs that kept me from attending college out of state or traveling abroad.
How would I find the money to do this? Could I really do this all by myself?
At that time, I was already working while I was in college to pay for my car, car insurance, books, and other basic living expenses. Unlike many of my friends who were able to go away and out of state for college, financially this wasn’t possible for me, at least not right after High School. However, I now realize I could have found a way, when it was time to transfer from Suffolk Community College for my Bachelor’s degree. Instead, I decided to stay local and attend Long Island University/CW Post – really what I see now was the safe decision.
It’s not easy to start over somewhere else, travel across the country or abroad to Europe with no friends or family, find an apartment, and get a job. Risky and overwhelming change – oh my! Well, that’s if we let ourselves get caught up in all of this. We can miss out on some great life opportunities, if we get stuck in the thoughts that hold us back instead of creating a plan and finding a way.
Clear to me now, when I was a college student, I let my sense of being too responsible get in my own way along with the thinking of “it’s just not possible”. However, there’s no time like the present to travel – forget all the reasons or excuses to delay this trip another moment! Seriously, I’ve waited long enough for a trip of a lifetime. I can’t wait!!
I’ll be traveling to Western Europe for 12 days (10 days in 4 countries) with a high school friend AnneMarie on a Contiki tour group. Contiki is for travelers 18-35 years old, who want to sightsee, experience the culture, and simply travel with others of similar age without the hassle of planning the entire trip.
In case you are wondering, here’s where I will travel on my Contiki Western Europe Tour – Amsterdam to Barcelona trip:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Lucerne, Switzerland
Paris, France
Barcelona, Spain
So tell me about your upcoming planned trips whether a short road trip or by plane. What’s your trip of a lifetime, and when do you plan to take that trip? Would love to hear about it!
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Very interesting perspective and well-written! I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity by my parents to go away to college and I took advantage of that for the first year…then I made the decision to transfer back locally. Looking back my decision was made for the wrong reasons and I should have embraced the experience of going away to college which is so important for growth and independence on so many levels. I took the easier route, came home, and went back to my parents doing everything for me…convenient but not best, in hindsight. I was also afforded the opportunity to study abroad one semester in college and took advantage of that. I highly recommend the experience and truly learned a lot that summer in Spain. I wish I took more advantage of opportunities like that which help to make you more independent, which you don't always realize how important that is earlier in life when you still have your family around to do everything for you. Its only after they are no longer here and you have to function on your own two feet that you realize how much they did for you and now have to learn to do those same things all yourself, while managing through everything else in the game of life.
Thanks for reading and commenting! I enjoyed hearing about your experience. You are absolutely right – going away to college is definitely an experience to embrace! You learn so much about yourself and others as well as how to deal with conflict. You are very fortunate to have such supportive parents. Glad to hear you were able to study aboard in Spain! That must have been amazing! I was grateful later on to have the opportunity to live on campus for 2 years when I transferred to LIU/CW Post Campus. Really in the end, it’s about making the best of the situation, and learning from the lessons and opportunities that come from it. Seems like you have accomplished that and you should be proud! -Sarina