I have always dreamed of being able to live in a big city, live in a high-rise apartment and write stories while clutching a cup of coffee and looking out at city lights.
I want to live the “posh” life of traveling every few months to explore new places and be inclined to learn more about different cultures for quite a while.
Until last year I did not know what life outside of the United States was like. I assumed seeing a supermarket and a fast food restaurant on every corner was standard.
Last summer was my big break to go and explore the wondrous world we live in.
I skipped through the SeaTac airport, hopped upon an extravagant plane and woke up in a completely different country. Great Britain was waiting for me.
The first British word I encountered was “Piccadilly.” We got off at the stop Piccadilly Circus and sat in Piccadilly Square on a delightfully sunny day.
Although on my first few days I became dehydrated from the enormous amount of heat in the UK and went through trance-like actions, it all worked out and was one of the best experiences I could have asked for.
My journey started in London. I rode the London Eye overlooking Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. I walked down unfamiliar streets and talked to people who were equally interested in my culture as I was in theirs.
Paris is a beautiful city in my dreams filled with pink poodles, French macaroons and scarves.
I found that Paris is a historically beautiful city with famous architecture and opera houses that will wow any ordinary mind such as my own.
Since it was 110 degrees in Paris when I was visiting, it was the turning point of where my dizzying sickness began.
I have never been much of a water drinker. It just so happens that you have to drink water in higher temperatures or you will come very close to passing out. I have heard stories of what happened but I do not recall them myself.
Apparently I had been sitting in a friendly French restaurant and my friends had asked me what I did that day.
“Oh you know, I put a lock on the lock bridge near the Notre Dame Cathedral and put my name on one side. Hopefully I can come back someday with my husband and write his name on the other side,” I said.
Keep in mind that I was trying to keep my composure in the midst of feeling completely loopy. One of my good friends, Josh Carlisle, was tormenting me.
“You know what that means, right? You will never get married and you will never find love,” Carlisle said.
Of course in all my lucidness, I believed him, did not recognize his sarcasm and started crying. That night ended in a lovely tour of the Eiffel tower and an ending of my heat exhaustion.
The rest of my trip included visiting Heidelberg, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Slovakia, Prague and Berlin.
The epitome of European cities was Salzburg, Vienna and Prague. All of them included towering architecture, elevated food and inviting townspeople.
I will forever miss the amusement park, Prater, where we walked three miles to get on Austrian rides for large rates of currency. But it was worth the experience of go-karting, getting puked on by someone on the Black Mamba and riding Austrian Undergrounds.
It was an experience that I would go back and relive at any moment. I cannot wait until I can go back to Europe, write someone else’s name on the back of my lock in Paris and live the travelers dream.
After visiting these wondrous places, I can reassure myself that someday I will be writing books and visiting cities of all kinds when I grow older. A lifestyle of travel will be a significant part of my future and is waiting just around the corner.
