“The routine is the enemy of time, it makes it fly by.” I remember hearing this as I was graduating high school (for more on the quote, check out this video of a guy who decided to rebel against routine by biking across South America). In that moment, I didn’t understand how this could be true. I had had a 7:30am – 5:00pm repetitive routine at school for the past twelve years of my life, and it did anything but fly by.  When you’re young, every day feels like an eternity.

Every morning since school ended has consisted of me waking up at 7 am, crossing off yesterday’s date on my hanging "cats doing yoga" calendar, and settling down to study for the next five hours at the local coffee shop. While many of my friends celebrate the end of finals and the school year with trips and exciting, new summer jobs, I feel as though I have been wasting my time away, trapped in my notes and flashcards.

I was faced with a huge dilemma when I shared with all of my friends how desperately I wanted to visit Split, Croatia and not one of my friends was able to join me. Although I would have to do it alone, I remained determined to venture off to the beautiful country of Croatia. Prior to my trip to Split, I had nerves and doubts about my decision. What if I wasn't ready to navigate a foreign country on my own? What if I get lonely being by all by myself for four days?

The conception of a city has evolved substantially over the past few centuries. Before coming to Berlin and Paris, I thought of Paris through the words of Emile Zola and paintings of Cézanne, and I imagined Berlin as a place where beer and sausages flow around. However, having lived in Berlin for the past three months and visited Paris three times, I would argue that both cities are different from my previous imaginations about European cities—döner shops pop up at every street corner in Berlin, just as many as the Starbucks in Paris.

Hey!!

Let's be honest here. Travelling is amazing and so much fun, but long flights are not. As someone who has taken more flights than they care to count (I once took 10 flights over the course of 14 days), I've learned a thing or two about how to have really good -- and really bad -- flights. Here's my list of top tips to leave airports feeling refreshed, awake, and actually alive.

1. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

After a week of 3 mid-terms and a presentation, finally it was time for spring (or fall?) break. We had 12 days off, 12 beautiful days! As my friends and I were looking into places we could go to, we found cheap flight tickets to Chile, so we decided we’d go to Santiago and Valparaíso for a week and I made plans to go to Iguazú Falls after with an exchange student group.

Bonjour from France! 

Today my friend Doris and I decided to just hop across the border and visit Strasbourg, France! We woke up at 7:30 am bought tickets for a 9 am FlixBus and just went. We had no idea what to expect or what we were even going to do there, but we had the best time. Sometimes spontaneous adventures are the best ones. Here is a step-by-step list of what to do while in Strasbourg on a SUNDAY. 

Step one: Take a Flixbus to Strasbourg.