By Jillian Giannelli
I’ll never forget the day I left Florence when my four months of study abroad was over. I was sitting in the cab on the way to the airport, crying, and itching to jump out and just stay forever. I felt like I was never going to find a way to come back or apply everything I had learned over these four months to my life at home. Well, I know now that it doesn’t have to be that way. All it took was a little hard work and a whole lot of heart to find myself living in Europe only a year and a half later.
Before I studied abroad, traveling was somewhat of a foreign concept to me. The farthest place I had gone was California for a family vacation. When I chose to study abroad in Florence, my life took a drastic turn in the right direction. My eyes opened to a whole new world that I had never even thought of before. Suddenly, I was no longer apprehensive about the unknown, but excited about it. Seeing the Eiffel Tower light up at night, hanging out in Park Guell in Barcelona, riding a bike through London, watching the sunset in Santorini; all of these things changed my life. And what’s amazing is that I didn’t even realize it until it was over.
I love my job with Bus2Alps because I get to experience these life-changing moments every weekend. And I get to watch others experience them as well. Traveling has become something that I can’t live without. And no one should. Whether it’s for a week or two as a graduation present, or for an entire semester, traveling enriches your life like nothing else can.
So, travel while you’re young and remember, “all of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.” –Walt Disney
