Wow.. where to start! Firstly I've simply had the best 5 weeks of my life. If you don't know why, I've been travelling around Europe for 5 weeks. More precisely Germany, Austria and Italy. The first 3 weeks was just little old me on my own and I've never embraced solitude so much before. I was admittedly worried about being by myself for so long, but that was one of the reasons I did it. I really feel like I had to get to know myself better and I think the only way to truly do that was by being by myself, and doing the one thing I love to do; Travel. And I'm home now and I already feel so much better in myself. My whole life I've always been constricted, to school then college then work and there was never a chance to just step outside on my own, take a deep breath and press pause on everything while you catch up with yourself. When you're so confined by these things that people say are what make life, you become what everyone wants you to become. Okay you are yourself to a degree but you can't say no I don't want this, or this is what I want because you never get the time to actually think about it, let alone voice it to anyone. Everyone needs freedom, it just so happens that I find freedom through travelling. So it was just amazing taking these last 5 weeks just to sit back and say, you know what... I deserve this. It was the most rewarding experience. I think travelling is the only thing you buy that can make you richer, and the fact I saved up every penny by myself made it all the more rewarding as well.
So I started my trip in Berlin, where I stayed for a week. I fell in love with this city. It's such a contrasting place; oozing history and remembrance, yet feeling so modern at the same time. I gained an appreciation of Architecture I never knew I had, I developed my German speaking skills to the extent that when I finally got to Italy I was still speaking German back when they spoke to me in English... oops! On my whole trip I've met the most incredible people. Even when travelling on my own before the tour I joined, I had so many moments you only hear happens in world travellers blogs. Those moments where complete strangers ask you to join them and you do, and you have an almost life changing conversation with people who are genuinely interested in your life. The kind of moments that only really happen while traveling because if you were somewhere in your hometown and someone asked you to join them you would more often than not swiftly walk away. So Germany was incredible, and I just love it... and the beer of course! Austria was equally amazing, the mountains and lakes are just stunning. There's something about mountains that I find extremely difficult to describe, but they provoke such a sense of awe and wonder in me. They're just so powerfully majestic, sitting there in such quiet serenity.
Then for Italy. Well I've pretty much seen the whole of Italy in only 2 and a half weeks which is pretty darn incredible. Starting in Bologna, the stereotype of the Italian way of life. The red city oozes Italy from it's people to the buildings. It hit me I was in Italy as I was walking down a small cobbled lane, surrounded by red buildings, I found a tiny Italian delicacy shop. I was standing looking in the window at the range of meats, cheeses, pastas and fruits when four cello players started playing the most beautiful music just on the street beside the shop. It hit me for a moment I was living in a film, I had my own soundtrack because this was my journey and the exact moment that would happen in a film...was a bit surreal! Then I visited the little land locked country of San Marino, the 5th smallest country in the world... and it's basically a mountain. Being the highest point in the Apennines the views were just spectacular. Also probably the friendliest place I went to too, it was just a beautiful place to visit. Then I hit Rimini, the beach part of my solo trip, where I really didn't do a lot but relax... and I am not complaining! I needed a break to catch up a bit plus a needed the rest before the fast pace of my tour, which is going to be my favourite thing to talk about...
So I joined a Contiki tour, which went all around Italy, in this order. Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Florence, Verona, Venice, Lake Garda, Milan, La Spezia, Cinque Torre, Pisa and back to Rome. As you can imagine it was extremely fast paced but the amount we got to see made it incredible. The tour was only 12 days and yet everyone became a family to me. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have met the people that I did. I got about 4 hours sleep every night and have never been so tired but I wouldn't change a thing. No regrets, the only thing that gets me down is knowing how far away my friends are now. I was the only British on the tour! Everyone coming from Canada, America or Australia and now they're a world away from me, but I'm just going to save up and visit. My future plans currently revolve around further travelling. I've been well and truly bitten by the travel bug. But it's amazing how being surrounded by people who share your passion for travel can make you feel. I feel so happy in myself, because I was accepted for who I was and it kind of finalised my acceptance of myself after my solitude. I'm not saying I love myself, not wholly, but the process has started and I have a deeper appreciation for myself that I never had before. I feel fundamentally happier and I hope it lasts without me getting hit by the holiday blues too much. The last 5 weeks have been life changing for me and I wouldn't change a thing.
