Well guys, I am finally home. It feels so good to be back in Ohio and I absolutely love that it feels like Fall here. Since I’ve gotten back I have been drinking coffee, snuggling up in blankets, and catching up on homework. Also, I am so very excited to go back to school tomorrow to catch up with all of my friends!

On my last day of being in Italy, it was a day of celebration. We had a balloon ceremony and some Italian guys did a goodbye performance to all of us with flags, drums, and trumpets. It was such a good day but even more, it was a good night! My girl-friends and I truly ended the night in celebration. We all went back to Jess’ sister’s room and celebrated with a bottle of wine in the hot tub. That was truly the most perfect way to end my trip because it’ll be something I always remember. We had such a blast and we played some games and I wish I could relive it again.

The night did take a sort of sad twist thought when we realized that that was our last night together. After the hot tub, we all went to Grace’s room and she gave Jess and I letters and tears were shed. I will always remember those girls. They mean the world to me.

I went back to my room and packed super late and I was so tired and a little tipsy too but when I did sleep it was great. I had to wake up at 4:30 am to leave for the airport at 5 and Jess and Grace met me down in the lobby to say our final goodbyes.

The traveling for the way home felt so long. It was such a big process. First, we drove from the hotel to the car rental area an hour away to return the car. Then the rental shop drove us to the airport and the plane we took, took us to Paris. So I had to stay another night in Paris in a hotel and when I got to the hotel we just slept basically that whole day. We didn’t leave our room because we were so exhausted and knew that we had more traveling to come. When we woke up, we had took an Uber to the airport to get on our plane back to the Cincinnati/Newport airport. The Uber ride was so chill and was way better than taking the train like we did on the way there. We got to the airport and I bought some Macarons from Paris there so I was pretty excited about that because I knew that you can’t go to Paris and not get Macarons! We got on the plane after I bought the Macarons and the plane ride was almost 9 hours long and our plane was delayed so the traveling just felt so long. We finally reached Kentucky and my mom came and picked us up and I was just so glad to be home.

I really enjoyed my trip but I do feel that it ended at a good time. I think I was finally ready to go home after being out of the country for a month. But I will say that I left Europe when I was just getting used to everything there. So maybe I was in between wanting to stay and leave.

This trip was such a huge learning opportunity for me. I met so many people who I felt came into my life at the most perfect time ever. They gave me so much advice on my life and truly helped me figure out what I want next for me. But I think the biggest thing I think I learned and realized is that life will work out. When you project positivity into the world, you will receive positivity back. At the start of my trip I felt so alone, as I talked about a lot through my blog, but I stuck with it. I tried to set goals for meeting people and I tried to engage when I received the confidence to and my efforts paid off more than I could even believe. Life will carry your struggles on its back. Have a positive mindset through anything you do. Look for solutions. You will get through situations that seem unbearable and those struggles that you dealt with will feel like nothing once you have conquered them.

It’s kind of funny because the friends that I met and I kept saying to each other, “Why didn’t we meet earlier on in the trip?!” And I think the answer to that question was because of fear. But now that we know the outcome it seems silly that we were all so scared to talk to each other! It really made want to start living by the mentality that we should do what scares us. We should face our fears. And throughout this whole trip, I feel that I overcame so many restraints and fears of mine. We shouldn’t bury ourselves in our fears. We should choose life and choose to do the things we have been wanting to do.

So, if I have learned anything from this trip its this: Don’t hold back. Be myself fully and I will be happy. Life has me in its hands and with that, I can do anything.

{A very special thanks to the people who have followed me through my adventure of writing these travel diaries and discovering more about myself. I hope you learned a little something and enjoyed reading.}

Love,

Laurel and the Travel Diary Series. ❤

Uncategorized Europe travel