A few weekends ago I completed my first half marathon! I had been training for it for a while but I was still nervous when the day finally arrived. The race was around Rotorua and in the Redwoods Forest area. I had heard good things about the Redwoods area, so I was very excited to get to experience this place by running through it all. The race started early, and as my friends and I prepared to run, we heard the announcer say that it is one of the only places in the world you can run a half marathon around an active geothermal area.

When you study abroad, no two people will have the exact same travel itinerary. Some will travel every weekend outside of the country, venturing as far as Africa. Others will spend the majority of their stay exploring the depths of the country that is hosting them. Regardless, there is no right or wrong way to travel while abroad, though I would recommend exploring both within and without the country.

I am officially over the halfway point of my time here in Freiburg, and it is very bittersweet to be writing those words. I have experienced so much in my time here already and I know the next half of my adventure here is going to be equally amazing. While I have had many awesome adventures such as hiking, weekend trips planned on a whim, concerts, plays and operas, and many more, I haven’t just been traveling and exploring here in Freiburg. After all, I am studying abroad.

Goodbye. See you soon. Until next time. These are phrases I’ve used all too often in the last week or so. As I close out this amazing, eye-opening, and revolutionary semester, I am forced to look at my choices both good and bad. I laugh at the times when I was foolish. Where I spent too much money or said the wrong pronunciation of an Italian word (It happened a lot). I cherish the times I won’t forget, like when I got to see the Pope or when I visited Padova with Julia (my editor-in-chief). However, the time has come to leave “my” precious Roma.

My dream of being a fluent French-speaker and certified Parisian began when I was seven years old. My parents were attending a conference and brought me along for the trip. After being able to ask a drugstore employee for “cotton” in a French-enough accent that she understood me, I suppose I was destined to be a French major.

Now, the wild truth is that I leave for Paris again in just a few days. This time I’ll be going on my own and staying there for seven weeks. I’m looking forward to so many things:

I’ve been home for almost a week now and I’m missing Italy like crazy! It’s so weird not having to unpack and re-pack my suitcase every few days because of a new trip I’m taking. I also miss all of the friends that I have made at IES Abroad. We all facetime each other any chance we get, and if we hear a song that reminds us of our time abroad, we all become emotional wrecks. My host family is definitely high up on the list of things that I miss. They made my transition so much easier and treated me as their own.

If you’re reading this, then you’re someone who likes to travel. How do I know? Well, I’m the same way. I’m Rebecca Carey, a 21 year-old college senior living in Iowa City, Iowa. When I was 18, I moved to the Midwest for college. I’m originally from south Texas, where expansive fields of cattle and public schools closing down for the annual fair and rodeo is the norm. In high school, I studied abroad in the UK and Ireland, and before starting college I traveled to Thailand after high school graduation.

And in the blink of an eye, my time abroad is almost up! With less than a week left in Santiago, Chile, I wanted to reflect on some of my favorite places that I’ve been around the city, or just outside of it. From the weekend markets to the endless museums, Santiago has plenty to keep you busy.

As I prepare for my first study abroad experience, I’m filled with an incredible amount of excitement and anticipation. I know that during my time abroad, I’m going to be filled with dozens of amazing experiences that I will get to carry with me for the rest of life; however, one thing I’m not filled with is knowledge on how to pack in my suitcase.

As in the U.S., Sunday was Mother’s Day in Chile. At every street corner, vendors with their hands full of heart-shaped balloons and single-packed roses jumped out into the street at red lights to sell gifts for Mom through car windows. My host mom had gone to her mother’s house for the day, and so I headed to the park to enjoy the still-warm fall weather. I picked up some pad Thai from a food truck and wandered around families taking pictures and moms holding daughters’ hands as they ran around the fountains and chased birds. I called my own mom.