Openings

Life never seems to go as planned to me, but since my sophomore year of college, the thought of spending one semester in Spain has been the little beacon of hope I’ve looked to for purpose and excitement, and now it seems like it’s actually going to come true.  The idea came from a friend who told me that I should do something out of my comfort zone, like really out of my comfort zone, and challenge myself to see a completely different culture and learn their language. So I went for it.

I decided I would take one semester to study abroad in Spain. I only took two years of Spanish in college, I know no other person going on the trip with me, and I’m going to stay with a family from Spain while I’m there. I’m. So. Excited. I leave in a little over a month on August 30th, so you can expect consistent posts to start then. I’ll be there for three and a half months, and I come back December 14th.

If you’re wondering how I’m feeling before I leave, it’s not really afraid, but mostly excited and ready to get out of the habits and social norms I am so used to and to see that living in a different way actually is possible and probably really great. I’m excited to feel what it’s like to really be on my own in a place where I have to figure things out. I’m excited to experience new things, fill my open mind to the brim with new knowledge and information, and come back changed, more empathetic, and overflowing with beautiful imagery and stories galore. There will be bad. There will be wonderful. There will be mundane. There will be challenging. And I can’t wait to share it all with those of you precious people who want to hear about it.

Something else you should know is that this blog is an experiment, and it’s going to help me out with my undergraduate thesis. If you want to know more about that, visit my “About” section or send me a message. I’m going to try to write daily, or at the very least, weekly, to keep everyone updated back home and document things as they happen. If there is anything you’d be interested in hearing about specifically when I’m away, leave a comment so I make sure to include it! And if you have any other questions or would like to share your own travel stories, leave a comment or send me a message.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll sign up to follow this journey!