I’m Back//Life Update

3 years have passed since I studied abroad in London and explored Europe as a 19/20 year old. It was one of the best times of my life so far and I love looking back on it. That, of course, has not stopped me from making new memories! Since I returned, I have really worked towards having a career that will allow me to what  I love — travel.

First, I had an internship with a transportation company called Schneider Logistics and I worked in the Ford Motor Company Export Building in Livonia. I really enjoyed my time there and learned a lot, but I knew if I wanted to move out of Michigan I wouldn’t be able to do so with that company. The next summer I had the opportunity to move to Omaha, Nebraska to intern with Werner Enterprises, another transportation company. Now, I know what you are thinking… Nebraska?? Yes, I initially thought the same thing, but I was pleasantly surprised when I moved there. I had one of the best summers of my life and met people I will stay in touch with for years to come. Omaha is a gem, though I really can’t say much for the rest of Nebraska.

A wee little trip to Scotland

I had one day in between when I got back from Spain and left for Scotland. I was so excited for to see my family up there and see my mom and brother on Monday morning! The rest of my trip doesn’t have any breaks, which I don’t really mind because I know in the end I must go home. Mine as well try to do as much before I leave?

My mom brought me my phone with her Monday, but that meant I had to go the weekend without it. That was fine by me, until I realized that my train tickets were on an app on my phone. I tried to get the app on my laptop, download the tickets to print them, contact the company, and print out my itinerary to show the help desk: nothing worked. I asked how much the ticket would be, and it came out to be 145 pounds one way. I paid 95 pounds round trip when I bought them in March. So, thank goodness my mom was awake, because I texted her to download the app, log on for me, and send them to me. I have my apple ID hooked up to my laptop, so I was able to get the picture downloaded to scan there.

Some pain in Spain

Anyone who follows me on social media knows that Barcelona did not exactly go as planned. I also do not have many photos and won’t until later so I might come back to add more. I am glad that I got the chance to visit Spain before I left, but it was not the easiest trip I’ve taken. Lets just say there were many ups and downs and I am just glad Lila and I had each other to get through it.

While in school, I did learn a bit of Spanish (probably not as much as I should have). I found that I could understand most of what people were telling me, but I could not respond but with a few words. For the most part, this wasn’t a huge problem, but it made some things more difficult than if it were to happen in London.

How did I study abroad?

Growing up, my family liked to travel and take vacations when we could. We have been to places like Jamaica and the Bahamas, Florida (like everyone else in Michigan), Myrtle Beach, and Mexico. I grew up loving to travel and see different parts of the world, in my case North America.

Orientation at CMU was the first time I really thought about study abroad. A friend of mine and I were there together and we had to choose which information seminar we wanted to go to, and the least boring one was study abroad. I remember we both said that there was no way that we could afford it, but it did sound fun. That meeting really opened our eyes to the possibilities given to us at CMU to study abroad. Funny enough, I obviously studied abroad in London and she is going this summer to Italy to study. It’s kind of funny that it worked out that way.