I promised this post back when I wrote about Rome, and with almost a month between the end of my Europe trip and now it's time to share my final thoughts on this amazing life experience.
I firmly believe that any travel or outdoors experience completed mindlessly is an opportunity wasted. To get the most out of an experience like this a little bit of reflection goes a long way. You can really learn so much from experiencing the world first hand as opposed to from a screen or in a lecture. For example let's talk travel, say the day trip Jess and I took to see the castles of Sintra, Portugal. We did not just gain first hand knowledge of what they look like, Sintra's history, and the cultural experience of the town. We learned about how to navigate this foreign country, to buy train tickets to get 40 minutes out of Lisbon, and to cheaply but effectively plan and purchase our eating for the day. We learned about our personal comfort zone when it comes to heat, humidity, and steep hills, and we relearned the pleasure of four hours of conversation with a lifelong friend. After adventures of any kind, no matter the scope, it is important to reflect on what you learned simply by being in that situation. My mom used to tell me that the material I was learning in school (before college) was simply examples with which I was learning how to learn. I see this theme reflected in my adventures as a young adult. I don't just travel to learn travel skills and cultures outside of my own (although these are a great bonus). For me "Portugal" was the example with which I was able to learn life skills such as how to adapt if plans go awry, how to practice flexibility when things don't happen exactly my way, and how to harness my underestimated freedom. This freedom I refer to is that warm feeling of "oh my gosh I'm 20 I can do literally anything with my life". I feel very lucky to have had a number of amazing travel and outdoors experiences in the past few years especially. It is through these experiences that I have gotten to this point where I know that the world is my oyster. With a little emotional and time investment I can set my mind to something and make it a part of me. For example, I am currently learning to rock climb. I have books, mentors, facilities... and I am on track to be co-leading rock climbing trips in the backcountry by next semester. I picked this rather randomly, mainly because there was a need for female climbing instructors at my new job but also for the enjoyment I had of the sport as a kid. I have simply made the commitment that I will make this sport happen for me and I am highly confident that I will be successful. This I believe to be a trick learned from my experience thru-hiking the Long Trail. That experience was the perfect bridge from what I was familiar with (backpacking) to what I wanted to learn (thru-hiker mental toughness). The Long Trail was a positive experience with the element of risk, which gives me the confidence to take the leap with something more unknown such as rock climbing. Back to my trip this past summer, moving on from the heavy stuff above. Europe did teach me a number of lessons about culture and history, travel skills, and personal preference among many others. Here are a handful of those lessons organized so it's not as overwhelming to read.
While I did not like being in cities my main goal of this trip was accomplished. I learned a TON. About myself, about Europe, about traveling. Life experiences like this are worth every penny. I hope to be going on some new adventure during the winter break this year, I learn more when I'm out of the classroom than when I'm in it! Comments are closed.
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