Reflecting on Europe

We have spent the past seven weeks and five days traveling throughout Europe. There have been good days and bad days, places we loved and places we don’t need to visit again, delicious meals and scraps of cheap food we called meals, we have seen thousands upon thousands of people- some who have become life long friends and others that were just a face in the crowd, and amazing memories the two of us will share with one another for the rest of our lives!

Jayme’s Personal Reflections:

The most frequent question I have been asked lately is, “What was your favorite place in Europe?”  This question is extremely difficult to answer due to the diversity between each city and country.  This was my fourth trip to Europe and I found it very interesting to go back to  some of the places I had previously visited and relive old memories, create new ones, and pick up on new or forgotten feelings.  I realized that since we never spent more than a few days in a city, I was forced to form an impression of an entire place based on my limited interaction with its people, history, and culture.  I also found that I was incorporating my opinion of hostels we stayed at, other tourists we met, and moods that we were in into my overall view.  Given those factors, there are a number of places that I felt a connection with and would like to visit again at length in the future.  Germany was the most surprising country to me.  I honestly did not know what to expect and I was blown away by its beauty and history.  The charming town of Heidelberg was one of the few smaller towns that we visited and it reminded me of a fairy tale village with the magnificent castle perched on a hill overlooking the river. I was fascinated by the architecture of Prague, with its many spires and red roofed buildings as well as the cozy Eastern European feel of the main square in Krakow.  I would love to live in Spain someday to work on my Spanish and explore the many towns and regions that we did not have enough time for on this trip. Greece is a place where I could spend a romantic getaway eating the delicious food, talking to the friendly people, visiting the ancient sites, and relaxing on the beautiful beaches. 

The best part about this trip is the realization that I am living out my dream at 25 years old.  This trip has changed my views on my life and made me think about what is really important to me.  Learning about the history in Europe has been the most memorable experience for me.  Each area is unique and has its own incredible story, some that date back more than 5,000 years ago and some that happened within the last decade.  Ancient history is what piques my interest and for so many years I was fascinated by the story of Pompeii.  Walking the streets of the ancient city, left just as they had been in 79 AD, and viewing the place I had only read about is something that I will never forget.  The hardest part of Europe was the few weeks where we were constantly reminded of the Holocaust.  There was Auschwitz in Poland, the large Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, and the countless number of ‘Old Jewish Quarters’ in cities throughout Europe where a tiny fraction of Jews still remain that brought to life the reality of the cruelty that took place there so recently. 

America has a lot to learn from different parts of Europe in terms of simple things like recycling, public transportation, charging for plastic bags, walking instead of driving when possible, and driving smaller cars.  For me, I have learned that it is possible to live out of a backpack, wear clothes multiple times between washing, sleep in rooms that remind me of fraternity houses, and survive for nearly two months without eating any meat.  This trip will not always be easy, but I know that every experience, great or small, will leave an impact on me. I have met so many people not only from Europe, but from all over the world who want the same things that I do and it makes me realize that we are not very different from each other, regardless of what country we consider home.  I am looking forward to meeting many more people, learning about their cultures, and taking back a greater understanding of the world when I return home.  The past two months in Europe have been amazing and I am looking forward to going back again in the future.

Chelsea’s Personal Reflections:

Wow! Europe has been amazing and there have been so many moments, where I thought to myself, “I am so lucky to be here!” I realize that so much of a person’s experiences can be altered by the people they meet or any one positive and/or negative situation. I know that because of certain experiences, Spain, Greece and Germany rank as my top favorite countries. I would love to live in Spain someday, where I would have the chance to become fluent in Spanish. The people were amazing and the culture was exciting. I loved the time we spent in Greece- the food was delicious and we expanded our budget by enjoying ourselves like vacationers not just travelers. I loved the time we spent in Germany. The country is clean, the history is still so prevalent, and parts of the landscape looked a lot like home. We visited thirteen countries while in Europe and nearly twenty-five cities, some of which I fell in love with. Granada, Spain is a wonderful city and I could see myself living there someday, enjoying the culture and eating tapas everyday! Krakow, Poland looked a lot like the larger cities of Eastern Europe, with the building and large town squares, but it was much smaller, more manageable, and very quaint. Jayme and I are used to being together 24/7 and work really well together, I am ready for us to be out of our element and thank Europe for preparing us the way that it did!

This trip has been interesting to say the least and as expected, there have been amazing experiences as well as hard experiences. I loved paragliding through the Swiss Alps and canyoning between its crevices. I loved relaxing on the beaches of Santorini and eating greek yogurt for breakfast on an outside patio. I loved being taken back in time while walking the ancient streets of Pompeii and the horrific barracks of Auschwitz. I loved visiting all the old churches and castles and walking through old towns and big cities. Luckily, there have been many more great experiences and looking back on Europe, only two bad days come to mind. Our first day in London was a little terrifying. We couldn’t find a place to stay and we were so ‘fresh’ in our traveling together that I remember wondering what in the heck I had gotten myself into. There was only one time where we have felt unsafe and that was upon our arrival from the ferry on the  Greek island of Santorini. Tony from our hostel, Tony’s Legendary Villa, picked us up and along with four other guys, we began our roller coaster ride up the switchbacks heading into the town of Perissa. We knew our hostel was located in a beach town, so we were surprised when we turned onto a small and deserted dirt road. As a cell phone was being passed around the car, everyone talking into it in a language we didn’t understand, our headlights shone on two additional guys in the middle of the road, I began to get really nervous. Turns out, the other four passengers needed a taxi and they had paid Tony to take them to their friends place. Everything worked out just fine, but it was very scary! Jayme and I have since talked about and relived the experience and at least now we have a ‘plan of attack.’

Fulfilling a life dream at only 25 years old feels pretty amazing! Even though this trip is just beginning, I have already learned so much about myself and I am beginning to see the world differently. I have become stronger, more independent, and much more courageous. Clean laundry and good sleep have become a luxury rather than a necessity. I can’t believe I used to wash a shirt after only wearing it once. I can only imagine how much more I could have gotten out of my weekends if I wasn’t washing clean clothes all day. Crazy! I feel much more confident than I was two short months ago. I can easily navigate an underground metro system, find locations on a foreign map in an unknown city, make friends with strangers in just a few moments, and Jayme and I have become masters at the game of charades. The people in this world are amazing and I constantly think about how many friendships I might have missed out on if I wouldn’t have come on this trip. Jayme and I have become even closer and the people we have met along the way have become our friends and family. I can’t wait to see what else this world has in store for me!