My travel story started 1 month before graduation during my senior year at college; I suddenly caught the travel bug. I soon discovered a work exchange group, specifically for working abroad. I started imagining the possibilities of working in Paris and waking up every morning, grabbing a croissant from the neighborhood boulangerie and biking past the Eiffel Tower. Or walking along the Thames in the rain and ending the work day with some greasy fish and chips. Or maybe sipping some capuccino outside a cafe during siesta on a warm day in Rome. The possibilities seemed endless but it was also something I romanticized. The hard truth I later found out was that most of these jobs were looking for people still in school - I was 1 month away from graduating.
So I graduated and started working. After about a year, I decided to finally do it. However seeing as this was the first time I was going to travel abroad as an adult, I wanted a travel partner. I asked several friends but they were either unavailable or didn't have the money to travel. I then searched online communities to see if anyone was traveling abroad and was looking for some company. No one had the itinerary I was looking to embark. So after a few weeks of debating with myself, I decided to take the plunge and travel solo.
And I've never looked back. Traveling solo was the best decision I've ever made. I went where I pleased, when I please. I did and ate whatever I wanted. I couldn't depend on anyone but myself but that's when you learn the most. So at the end of all of that, I did have a croissant in Paris and see the Eiffel Tower. I walked all along the Thames river on a cool London day and I had my cappucino in Rome. I now travel abroad once a year as a way of challenging myself and opening my mind to the world.
