Reflecting on my Time in Vienna

As I left Vienna on the plane towards Barcelona (where I would have a short layover), I had a strong mix of weird emotions. I felt so happy to have experienced even a couple months of magic compared to my standard college life. I felt a bit sad to not have done more with my time in Vienna. Bittersweet is probably the best way to describe it, but even that doesn’t do the feeling justice. I was far more satisfied and grateful than disappointed, and I don’t think it’s fair to view any part of my experience as bad. Yes, there were good and bad days, good and bad tests, cool trips and more boring ones, but every part of my journey was worth it.

If there’s one thing I can suggest for others as I touched down in Boston, it was to study abroad. The local people I’ve met while traveling alone have made the entire trip worth it, let alone the glory and pure elation of hearing the Wiener Philharmonic play in symphonic harmony, or the joy of a great sunset over Schonbrunn Palace. 

And as I listened to Hotel California play on my headphones, more than feeling any particular emotion, was a simple replaying of all my memories in Vienna. And as the Eagles strummed along in the song, it brought me back to remember a day when the sun was setting and the weather was just perfect, when I was walking from Landstrasse towards Schwartzenberg. I was slightly late for my Banking and Assets class, and I knew I probably wasn’t going to make it. But just seeing the families, couples, and working professionals come back from work, the bus stopping and going, the tram’s monitor saying “Stau in Zufahrt” (meaning that I was definitely going to be late). Even that simple memory of daily life stirred up strong emotions in my heart.

As an aside, my phone is almost out of storage, so on the plane ride back, halfway through, I decided to spend a couple hours deleting old photos, duplicates, blurry pictures, and so on. I think that truly gave me perspective about how grateful I should be about my study abroad experience. The amount of places I went in such a short period of time is remarkable, even by my standards. 

I think my time in Vienna also inspired me to come back and travel the world more. There are still so many places I haven’t gone. In fact, I’m now considering traveling back to Prague for the Prague Marathon in May (pending a couple schedules lining up). It really gave me so much and I don’t think I would’ve chosen a different destination to study in. The world has so much to offer to you if you just go out and take every opportunity you have to leave your comfort zone. I came back to the U.S. with a renewed sense of travel. Even with a tough class schedule, internship and job applications, and studying for the LSAT, I’m still aiming to return to Europe next summer and the summer after. With that, my time in Vienna is over. For anybody reading, I hope my blog has been fun to follow along, and once again, I hope everybody will get the chance to visit a different part of the world and spend time there. It was truly magical!

Signing off, Josh