4/7/12 Spring Break Wrap Up

4/7/12

I am currently on a train back to Italy.  This means my great adventure through Austria, Germany, and Switzerland is over!  Very sad day!  Within the past month, I have used many modes of transportation.  I have used an airplane, tram, train, bus, walking, running, subway, trolley, car, and there might be more I just can’t think of them at the moment.  That is a lot of modes of transportation!  When I get back to Texas, I will never want to use my car again.  I will want to walk everywhere!  Train is now my new favorite mode of transportation.  Do we have passenger trains in Texas?  Not many.  And the view!  Who wants to see ugly buildings and land when you can see castles and gorgeous mountains?  Sorry I am complaining, but I do not want to leave this beautiful sight.  One of my friends said, “To bad I wasted money on a round trip plane ticket because I am not going back to the states!”

Although I do not want to come home, this experience has changed me.  I will not come home the same person I was when I left.  This spring break trip was kind of a self-discovery trip for me.  I feel like I know more about myself more so than I did before I left.  I know more about my likes and don’t likes, what kind of person I am, and who I want to be.  I know that I can survive the world on my own and how to be independent.  I have traveled most of Europe without the help of anyone except the three other girls around me and some people that speak English in the town we are in.  We made a plan and executed it.  We did get lost, but that is a part of life.  I now have a new confidence within me that needed to come out.  I am not afraid anymore of life!  I want to go out and live it!

I have learned a great deal from this experience that applies to my life.  I have learned these not only from my experience, but the way the group functioned and how other people acted.  I will list them, but they are not in a specific order.
1. Do not be afraid to miss your train, there is always another one
2. You have to be flexible in life
3. Everything does not go your way
4. Don’t be afraid to experience new things
5. Be patient
6. I love my family and friends
7. Don’t be rushed all the time.  Have time to sit, breathe, and enjoy the view
8. Have the confidence to take the lead
9. Live life to the fullest
10. Be prepared for anything
11. Even though it is cloudy, the view is amazing

This is not all of them, but the major ones!  Well now it is time for me to relax from this trip.  I still have 5 more hours on the train and all of them will consist of me sleeping!  For one last time before arriving to Italy…

Auf weidersehn!