Writing this post has taken me a lot of time and thought. I was avoiding thinking about leaving Spain for, well, my entire trip, and when the time came I was brokenhearted. Although I had some low points during my trip (cancelled flights, a stolen phone, 2 hours stuck in a tiny, cramped elevator, and a hacked debit card), the highs far outweighed them, and I didn’t want to leave that behind. But I couldn’t avoid it forever; I had to start packing up my things and documenting as much as I can.

Sometimes, I just look back on some idiot thing I did, and it’s like, who am I??? There’s so much I don’t know about myself. I start to think I can kind of see my pattern of behavior and understand it, but I really can’t. People are so unpredictable. This occurred this weekend when a couple of my friends and I got the address wrong for our bus tour meant to explore the Great Ocean Road outside of Melbourne. We found ourselves 40 minutes outside the city, with 10 minutes to go before the bus was supposed to leave.

Last week was the final week of my internship program with IES Internships and LivItaly (it was a for-credit internship that was offered through IES Internships, and my placement was at LivItaly for those of you confused on how things were working out with that this summer). Not going to lie, the entire week felt a little bittersweet since I’d most likely never see many of the people in my program again after it ended. Though I was glad to have met them and spent most of the summer with them.

After this past weekend, I can honestly say that I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I have began to feel my heart fill with love and appreciation for this country even though I have only just begun to explore and experience it. New Zealand is absolutely stunning, with postcard views every way you turn, making it an outdoor lovers playground and a view chasers dream.

72 Hours from now, I'll be on my way to the airport. We've reached The Final Countdown.

After weeks of going back and forth, challenging my FOMO, and embracing the growth that I am bound to achieve by studying abroad, I am days away from begining my semester abroad in Buenos Aires. This moment was a long time coming and my journey to deciding to study in Buenos Aires is an interesting one.

Wow, I can’t believe that in a few short days, I will be on a plane on my way back to the United States. It’s crazy to think that I’ve been in Ireland for eight weeks, so practically my entire summer. I’m not going lie, time went by really slow the first few weeks to the point where I felt like I could watch paint dry. However, as the weeks progressed, I found myself losing track of time through my travel adventures and increasing work responsibilities.

Hello everyone -

After two weeks of intense coursework in San Cristobal, we were rewarded with a week-long island-hopping adventure before we returned to our host families in Quito. Our adventure began in Santa Cruz, where we toured the bay and visited North Seymour, which is home to colonies of frigate birds and blue-footed boobies. From Santa Cruz we then traveled to the island of Isabela, where we explored the flooded lava tunnels created by the currently erupting volcano, Sierra Negra, as well as snorkeled through mangrove systems to see sharks and stingrays.