With all of the weekend trips I was going on and having classes during the week, it was hard to blog as much as I wanted in Prague. I was always trying to see something new whether it be a museum, gallery, trying a new restaurant or coffeeshop, or seeing what the nightlife had to offer. I wanted to write a blog about Prague, but all this adventuring and planning for different trips didn’t leave much time for that. I could sit and type for hours about each and every day, what I did, what I learned, the different situations life threw at me and more, but for now I just thought that I would share some memories I had and some of the big things I learned abroad. Now fasten your seatbelts folks because this blog is about to be a long one but something I think I need to do for myself too.  And mom and dad, before you continue reading this, just know I made it back okay and that I am a responsible adult, I promise!

First off, thank you Prague for the memories. I can’t even begin to think of every memory that makes me laugh so hard I pee my pants a little (oops).

Memories from Jamie spending a night on the floor outside of our apartment the first time we explored Prague at night to learning Will’s signature dance move of keeping it high and tight make me laugh even now weeks after I’ve been home.

I will always remember getting my slogan “Green means go, goat cheese girl” and the time I had a panic attack thinking I wouldn’t make it to Amsterdam to see The Weeknd and bought two very expensive plane tickets for the wrong date and both under my name and bought a different plane ticket twenty minutes before that plane took off. From buying yeast instead of butter and chicken thighs instead of breasts three times over, every memory is perfect in its own way.

I love my memory of taking the shower curtain down with me and Jamie just standing laughing at me to the time Jamie locked herself in the bathroom at the boys’ apartment. I loved eating Czech food with our hands and getting yelled at by Martin, the Czech buddy, and going to Czech prom with Adam. I loved hearing Adam in our apartment when he came by to study and say hi to Joanna and laugh when I think about the time we struggled to get to the castle and found spaghetti sauce in her hair.

I almost die laughing thinking of the time I flooded our bathroom in Budapest after my shower and stood scooping water with a shovel in my towel or the time we made an auto-tuned version of the cheese song in Paris while we drank wine waiting to go to the Eiffel Tower.

I remember getting yelled at on the tram by an elderly woman, our many visits to Vodafone, and the time I was at a coffeeshop and I met the Czech boy, Viktor, who took me on a coffee date to a coffeeshop I was at previously that day.  He called me beautiful about a thousand times and the language barrier made things truly hard, but I still referred to him as my Czech boyfriend for a good amount of time. Then there was the time Jamie and I wondered the streets singing Adele, the Sam Feldt concert where I lost my phone at a club where Jeff played find my iPhone for forty five minutes and found it there two days later, when Joanna ordered the spiciest thing on the Modry Zub Thai food menu followed by a chili brownie, the time I completely ruined my Uber rating with my ride, my tiny tequila hat that I brought to Lucerna and made everyone take a video with, and of course all the nights we spent staying out way too late dancing and enjoying life.

Radost, you will be missed the most. Here’s to far too many bottle service orders and falling off the stage. May your Thursday nights stay absolutely wonderful in the most terrible way.

As I went abroad I learned so much about myself. I learned that I am someone who just can’t sit still. I am always moving and always having a plan. That’s probably why I planned every single trip that us girls went on. As much as I complained about doing it, I secretly liked booking all the Air BnB’s, getting the timing for our trains right, and getting to see what things we could see in a city and make our dreams a reality even if I messed up and got us private rooms a few times on accident. Besides, it’s not like I really had any obligations while I was there and needed to give myself some sort of purpose.

I gained more confidence abroad than I ever thought possible.  I also gained a lot of weight, but that’s a conversation for a different time. My friends from home always told me I needed some more of that confidence stuff, but I shrugged it off and thought I was just thought I didn’t have much to boast about. After figuring out language barriers, traveling to so many different countries, and seeing the world, I’m happy with who I am. I’m comfortable navigating and know if I put my mind to something, I can do it. I can now deal with difficult people and difficult situations and that’s something I’m proud of myself for.

I also learned that money is meant to be spent. I always saved up, severely looked at the prices on menus, and worried that I wouldn’t have enough saved up for whatever life may throw at me. I didn’t worry about this abroad because I knew every penny, even those several pennies wasted on stupid mistakes like booking the wrong train from Madrid to Barcelona or tipping when that wasn’t a thing, was going towards my experience in Europe. No money spent is wasted when it’s on experiences you’ll remember for a lifetime.  I came back home with about $200 in my bank account but memories that made it all worth it. Besides, that’s what summer is for nowadays, right?

I learned that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I  felt like I was always hearing complaints about America what with the election happening just months before I left, and thought maybe the world would shine a little brighter on the across the pond and everyone would be singing Kumbuya and never say a mean thing to one another. And I was wrong. I realized that every continent, country, business, person deals with daily struggles and arguments and unfortunately things like terrorism and attacks exist. We went to Paris the day after a shooting at the Champs Elysees and seeing the large men in their green suits carrying guns that probably weigh more than me walking around opened my eyes to the corruption that happens all over the world. Though the world is a beautiful place, people like this do exist and I realized that abroad.

But on that note, I also realized I have a blessed life. All those scary, terrible awful things can bog you down, but so frequently I was also reminded that I am so fortunate to be able to study abroad in Prague and travel to so many places and then after all that fun and adventure come back to a loving family and work a nice job in Downtown Denver and go to the greatest school in the world. When in Austria I remember saying I had terrible luck and Alec looked at me and said, “Stop saying that. You’re in Austria with some of the best friends you’ll ever have while studying abroad. Your life is awesome”, and he couldn’t have been more right. Life is pretty awesome. While I was sad thinking about leaving Prague and mentioned about ten thousand times how I’m “never leaving” I really have a new appreciation for the life I lead back home. I appreciate the little things, the things I never noticed about life, the simplest things like how beautiful my campus is that people admired when I was admiring their beautiful architecture in Europe. How my parents are always there for me, the friends I have at home that make me a better person every day, and of course, Taco Bell and queso. Can’t forget that.

In all reality, I could spend days, months, probably years talking about all the things I learned about the world and myself while abroad but all I can really say is you won’t know until you try it out for yourself.

Cheers to friends made, adventures, money spent, pounds gained, and the experience of a lifetime. Zizkov and my little apartment with Jamie and Joanna, you are missed more than you know, but I’ll be back someday soon.