Hey everyone!

We are coming down to the final countdown—two weeks left! I always find that at the end of the semester I feel like time has completely flown by and I still have so many things left that I want to do. Not only that, but the last two weeks are definitely cram time, as we come down to finals and realize that we suddenly have so much work still to do. Actually, that leads me into what I wanted to talk about today.

There is a certain art to the “day trip.” The simplest definition is when one visits a place and returns in the same day. But a definition that is more true to life is this: the process of attempting to cram every location, attraction, restaurant, museum, and type of food into the span of 8 or so hours. It can become an exhausting, tedious thing. However, if you plan well, it can be a trip well worth it –and often one that helps you save some money for some longer trips!

I hope that every single person reading this has had, or plans to have, the opportunity to travel alone at some point in their life. It’s invigorating, let me tell you. It’s invigorating and relaxing and empowering and exciting and incredibly refreshing all at the same time.

After a semester of meeting people from all over Europe, I have often asked myself what my life would be like if I were born somewhere else. In my travels, I have seen new lands and experienced unfamiliar cultures. Each one was unique and has given me a new perspective.

I’d been feeling somewhat limited and exhausted this semester when it came to the way I portrayed my time here. It’s been easier to write on a surface level and only talk about what I know others want me to say. Everyone wants to hear that everything is constantly magical and exciting. I end up often restricting myself and feeling inauthentic. I don't want to reduce my experiences to exoticism and superficialities like I’m living some kind of Eat, Pray, Love fairytale.

There are only five days left in this study abroad program and I am astonished at how many things I've accomplished that I never imagined I would accomplish abroad.

Rome is home to many different and amazing festivals and holidays.

My flagship blog post for this summer: hello, welcome! My name is Kelly Crewse, nice to meet ya. I'm a rising senior at Indiana University studying anthropology and educational studies with a focus on museum studies and bioanthropology. I'm an avid tv show fan (talk to me about Game of Thrones theories and you'll have my heart) and a distracted fiction writer. I'm an eternal optimist and friendly all around.

During the time since I left Siena, I have thought about my entire experience quite a bit.  No words can ever truly describe all that I saw and experienced during my time abroad.  At 20 years old I had the unique opportunity to see a different way of life and challenge myself beyond anything I ever thought I was capable of.  I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge along the way about art, history, culture, and language.  I saw the beauty in traveling to new places to experience different cultures and

Officially, we are a month of the program ending, and I am a little before three weeks back in the United States. I'm settled in Chicago now, ready to start a summer of working and exploring somewhere new.