Last night was absolutely amazing. The reason I am posting this in the morning (and writing in the morning) is because I had a sleepover with all of my girls last night! I have been enjoying all of my time with these girls that I have met. They have been so supportive of me, loving, fun, and inviting ever since I have met them. They truly are what makes this trip the adventure I was searching for.

We started our day yesterday with a church service and I got to sit with one of the girls and the boy from the bus. We had a lot of fun chit-chatting, even though we probably should’ve been listening to the service…

After church, it was time for lunch! All of my new friends and I sat at a table together and that was so fun! We took so many photos and boomerangs for our Instagram stories and honestly we had the best time just goofing off. We also talked a little about careers and just our deep passions and interests. It just makes me so happy that talking to them now is just an easy thing to do and doesn’t feel like a task. I am just so comfortable with them and honestly we are the girliest bunch of people. We are always hugging and holding hands, running down the halls, laughing with excitement about whatever we are about to do.

You know what? I never want to forget these girls and so I am going to introduce them here on my blog. The two girls that have made my trip absolutely wonderful are named Grace and Jess. So guys if you are reading this, shoutout to you because I love you guys!

There was another church service that was planned for after lunch but Jess told me that she and her mom were planning on going into town and asked us if we wanted to go. I was able to but unfortunately Grace couldn’t but we did make plans to have a HUGE photoshoot when we got back.

The funny part was, as soon as Jess and I were heading out with her mom, we got in the car and couldn’t figure out how to reverse it. European cars can be so difficult sometimes and you can’t really read the instructions since its in Italian. And to make it worse, it was a stick shift. SO we actually weren’t able to go into Sabaudia. But, I guess it worked out so that Grace wouldn’t feel excluded.

We had an hour before church ended so Jess and I decided to take some pictures and we saw three cats! They were so cute and they made me miss my kitty back home. They were so shy and were too scared to come up to us but they just kept lingering around us and you could tell they wanted to be petted because they were purring so loud. I got a couple of pictures with one of the cats and it was so adorable.

After picture taking, we met back up with Grace and we all decided to go down to the beach and get some pictures of all of us. We were the worst at coordinating what poses to do but we had a lot of fun in the process!

We got done with our beach photoshoot and decided to go to Grace’s room and there we somehow escalated to going through Grace’s clothes for a wardrobe change. She had the cutest denim jeans and a red cropped tank top and she let me wear it! I felt so good in that outfit. I was in love with it!

So with our new outfits on, we decided that we wanted to go to the pier to take really artsy pictures at golden hour! The walk on the beach was a lot of fun. We saw Jess’s sister and husband (the newly married couple who gave me relationship advice) while we were making our way down to the pier. We asked her sister if she could take photos of us and she is so good at photography! Her Instagram is stunning.

We had so much fun taking those photos. It was such a good time. We are literally the most energetic group of people. We are always jumping around and just making the best out of the life we were given.

The pictures that we took at golden hour are literally my favorite photos ever. Those photos just mean so much to me. I like to think of those photos as a reminder of my struggles in the beginning and how far I have come and how much I have learned. I have gotten to the point that when I go back to Ohio, I am going to miss them like I did my friends back home when I arrived in Europe.

After our second photo-shoot, we went back to the hotel and scurried to get ready for dinner. Just like lunch, we all sat together at dinner and drank wine and had such an amazing time! The dance was that night as well and we all were planning on getting ready together in Jess’ sister’s room. They wanted to leave without dessert just so they could start getting ready! But I couldn’t have that. I saw one of the waiters slicing the desert and putting it on plates so I asked if I could take one and when he gave it to me I took off running after my friends down the hall, skipping with my Nutella cream cake.

We all went into Jess’ sister’s room and got ready for the dance. I think it’s so cool that I still got to experience a dance. That makes me happy.

It was time for the dance and when it began it was so fun. I was just dancing my heart out and just having a great time. I danced with my friends and I got to swing dance with a couple of guys. They taught me some new tricks and tips for dancing in the style of swing. It was honestly so much fun and it was such a great time with all of the people I was with.

After the dance, we all went upstairs to my room to just hang out but the guy from the bus wanted to hang out with us so we all moved to the lobby area on the second floor. We talked until like 1 am in the lobby and originally we were planning on having a sleepover in Grace’s room but we weren’t able to so the lobby was a good hangout area.

We talked about so much and we even talked about my blog posts and they were just so supportive of my writing and they were reading my posts and it really made me happy that they loved them so much and that we had to have genuine conversations discussing them.

Just as we were about to leave, my grandpa came downstairs to look for me and I asked him if we could possibly have a sleepover and he said yes! I was so excited and I think Jess and Grace were too. We all split up and decided to meet back up in my room for the sleepover!

The problem with my room was that I only had a twin size bed, two pillows, barely two blankets, and a very hard floor. But for some reason, I had an urge to look under my bed and I just pulled out another bed! I had no idea that it was there!!!! It was seriously so magical. With my bed and that bed combined it was more than enough room for three people and Jess happened to bring two blankets and a pillow so everything worked out perfectly! I’m telling you guys. Life will work out if you just let it. I was so amazed. I just had no idea I had another bed. Wow. Just wow.

The rest of the night was just so fun with them and this blog post doesn’t even do its full justice explaining how amazing the memories I made were with these girls yesterday. Every moment felt real and worthwhile and I am so sad that I have to leave them in just a couple of days.

So, to Jess and Grace:

You guys have made my trip even better than I ever could have imagined. You gave me life, adventure, memories, and joy. I felt so alone before you guys appeared and I couldn’t be happier that you two were the ones who came to save me from my sadness. I have learned so much about myself through your guys’ eyes and you have helped me through our deep talks, giving me the best advice. You gave me someone to lean on. You gave me something to look forward to and for that, I am forever grateful. To Jess: You are absolutely beautiful! You’re Instagram is so creative and you are truly inspiring. I am so glad that we got to talk about our future life in careers and that we got to know each other and attempt to pet cats together! You are so accepting of others and you are so sweet. You are so energetic and are someone to look up to. Keep being the best version of yourself and keep your smiles bright. You are absolutely amazing. I am so glad that you do live in the United States so that you don’t feel too far. I hope college treats you well! Thank you for everything. Love you! To Grace: Your soul is so happy and free! You always push people to bring out their inner adventurer and you are such a joy to be around. You make people feel comfortable with themselves and you seem so confident in yourself. AND you are truly a model whether you see it or not and I will definitely be stealing all of your clothes before you leave. You welcomed me from the day I sat at that table and I appreciated it so much. Keep laughing with people and loving people the way that you do. Everyone needs a person like you in their life! We will definitely be pen pals when you go back to the U.K. and I will forever remember your accent. Love you, girl. To both of you: You guys are amazing. We must ALWAYS keep in touch and I will remember you guys forever! ❤

This trip has been better than I could have ever imagined.

Laurel ❤

Uncategorized Europe travel