When it came to the last night before everyone headed home, everyone was pretty emotional during our final time together. We had a celebratory dinner, and all wore matching ‘I heart Venezia’ shirts. We even had a marker to sign everyone’s shirt, which I will cherish forever. Our whole group became really close by the end of the trip, and we are already planning on meeting again in Tuscaloosa. I was extremely sad to leave, but I missed my family tremendously and couldn’t wait to be home again. A group of us had a private boat take us to the airport the next morning where we recapped the highlights of the trip. For me, the best parts of the trip were definitely the scenery when we saw a glacier in Trento and the Alpes in Innsbruck. Some other people said they liked our hangout spot in Venice, sailing in Trento, and the castle in Slovenia. One point in my trip that was especially significant for me was riding in a rowboat at Lake Bled in Slovenia with two of my friends from the trip. It was definitely a challenge to row the boat across the lake, but it created a strong friendship with my now good friend, Mia. We laughed incessantly as we struggled to paddle the heavy boat through a storm. Then we walked exhaustedly back to the bus stop afterwards. After this, we found out we’re both from Huntsville, and we hung out every day after. We are even planning on meeting up at home, and I couldn’t be more excited and grateful to have met her. A lot of us had the same flight home, so making the journey through the airport and international customs together made it so much more enjoyable than it would have been alone. This trip has made such a positive impact on my life, and I am so blessed that I had the opportunity to be humbled and become more independent as I trudged through such an important part of my life. Exploring the world with such kind and likeminded people is an opportunity I may never come across again. Now that I am home, I have reminisced every day on my time and wholehearted experience that has influenced me to grow in such an astounding way. I can’t wait to catch up with the rest of the group and see how they spent the rest of their summer. I plan to spend mine finishing my classes, studying for the GRE, and volunteering at the Botanical Gardens. I am still trying to adjust to being back home after a month, though. Being in Europe was definitely a peak life experience, so finding motivation for anything else has been taking some time. Being in the real world again is bittersweet, and I hope you all got to experience this feeling at some point this summer too! Thank you for tuning in. Ciao!!
