The beginning.

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

I love traveling. Everything about it... even the plane rides and turbulence. One of my favorite quotes (by anonymous) is, "Sometimes it's not about the DESTINATION, but about the JOURNEY itself." Thinking about this concept has made me realize that I need to soak in every detail of what I do each day - not just the cathedrals I gape at or the museums I visit. Another thing that I have realized: the fact that something will go wrong every day... no matter how well I make plans. 

I think that the most important lesson that I have learned from traveling is flexibility. Knowing that no matter what you do... you're going to learn something new. Especially with traveling in Europe - when staying in a big city, it is beyond easy to get lost, but I have learned that this is OK. And yes, I get lost A LOT, but it is at these times that I often have some of the most memorable experiences.

In the past, whenever I have traveled abroad, it has been with people older than me (aka my sister Julia usually). She loves to take the lead and is ever so confident when doing so, even when she has no idea where she is going. Our first time backpacking through Europe in the summer of 2013, I did a lot of following and thinking to myself without voicing my opinion. This meant that when we would be lost, I would immediately say that I knew we should have gone the other way... which I had thought to myself, but never stated... plain stupid. From this I learned that it is better to always say what I think we should do, and then together figure it out. This is what we did this past summer when we went with Phil and Melissa, and yeah, we got lost bunches, but it all worked out beautifully!

It is experiences like this that I think have prepared me for venturing off on my own... And so it begins in Brussels, Belgium.