My Weekend in Amsterdam: Canals, Tulips, and a Little Bit of Self-Reflection

My second to last weekend trip of my semester abroad ended up being to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and it was actually my second time traveling there. The decision to travel there at the end of study abroad was definitely on a whim, as my friends and I were looking for somewhere to travel as a bigger group for a last hurrah, and I immediately recommended Amsterdam. Since I started traveling with my family in middle school, and especially as I’ve traveled consistently throughout my semester abroad, I’ve started to develop a list of my favorite countries that I’ve traveled to, and Amsterdam is absolutely in my top three. 

First of all, if you’re planning on traveling to Amsterdam, I 100% recommend taking the trip when the weather is warmer to truly enjoy and take in all that the city has to offer. The first time I went to Amsterdam with my family, just two summers ago, we traveled there in mid-June, which was the absolute perfect time, as the weather was sunny and warm and made for the perfect weather for exploring the city and its canals, as well as the more local towns outside of the city. This time around, my friends and I went in early April which, while definitely a bit chillier than my first trip, still had beautiful, sunny weather. One of the best parts of the trip also hinged on when we booked our travels for, as it was peak tulip season in Amsterdam at the beginning of April. Since tulips are one of Amsterdam’s trademarks, it was absolutely incredible to be able to see them in full bloom, in all of their glory, which wasn’t even on purpose when we initially started planning. We ended up taking a day trip to the Keukenhof Gardens, just an hour long bus right outside of the city, to truly take advantage of tulip season. Keukenhof Gardens was hands-down one of the most beautiful excursions I’ve gone on over the past few months abroad.

Along with exploring Keukenhof Gardens and spending time with my best friends in Amsterdam, another personal highlight of this trip for me was taking a few hours to explore the city on my own while my friends were off on an excursion that I had previously done with my family. Due to the price of the excursion and the fact that I had already done it, I decided it would be a better use of my time and money to take that time to see different parts of the city and be with myself for a little bit. I walked through Amsterdam with absolutely no plan in mind and no directions in front of me, just stumbling across different shops and spots that I thought looked cool or interesting. I sat by the canals and people watched and basked in the sun and felt completely at peace. It was definitely a very specific moment of my time abroad that I’ll look back on for many years, as I felt a huge sense of self-growth, as doing something like exploring a city on my own is something I never would’ve been able to do just a year or two ago. Studying abroad has been such a huge growth and learning opportunity for me, and not just in the classroom. I’ve been able to grow as a person and become much more confident in myself, and my time traveling abroad has been a huge part of that.