Where Will Your Next Adventure Take You?

Growing up in Texas, you are accustomed to traveling down I35 seeing flat field after flat field with no hill in sight. To the east, when you visit family, you gaze at the never-ending trees that, as a kid, when you looked up the window in your car you still couldn't see the tops of the gigantic green trees. Once you finally escape the dusty, dry, arid region that engulfs most of west/central Texas, you come across some of the most beautiful mountains and hills to climb up just so you don't miss watching the gorgeous Texas sunset. I have always loved this great state that I lived in for 21 years; however, I felt a need to explore, a need to get out, a need to find myself individually, and last summer, I did exactly that.

An opportunity came across my laptop in early March of 2017 that enabled me to take an internship abroad while having the flexibility to travel and visit Europe. As soon as I saw this once in a lifetime chance to go and live in Europe while working in my desired field, I grabbed this chance and ran as far as I could with it until I landed in Madrid on June 2, 2017.

Just as life has its ups and downs, I certainly had my good and bad moments while living in Europe for two months. I will spare the details for another post, but to give the short summary, I went about a month and a half with no phone. The only form of communication I had was if I stayed up late or woke up early so that I could contact my parents via Skype. Although I do not suggest this experience to anyone (not having a sense of security being in a place you know not that much about), I do not regret my time at all. By not having a phone, I was overwhelmed with how better off I was without a device to constantly check every other minute. In today's society, it is rare for you to be walking down the street and see nobody on their cell phone. The reason I bring this up is because it made for the best summer I have ever had. Visiting Barcelona and Amsterdam without a working phone proved to not be a problem when I went with a group of friends to both of these destinations. Some of the best pictures I took on my camera were from these two cities because in multiple situations; I stopped, looked around, found a great shot, and did it all again. If I had my phone during this, I would not have captured most of the pictures I took.