tldr; i realize some people are sick of me mentioning this... but yes i lived in ireland for a year
"We get it: you 'eat-laugh-loved' for a year and 'found' yourself and all that bullshit... when will you stop talking about it already!?
The answer is NEVER probably. I can't get enough. It's something my parents allowed me to do and helped me achieve because they were never given that kind of opportunity growing up. It's also something they knew I needed to do for myself before I get tied down to a career or family or something and can't do it anymore. Once in a lifetime shit.
Moving to Ireland wasn't the first time I've moved or had to make friends or go to a new school... but it was the first time I chose to do those things and did them on my own. It was the first time I lived on my own. It was the first time I moved without my family. It was the first time I had to go to a new school with some people I already knew, since I did it with other people I went to college with. It was the first time I had any firsthand experience with anything non-North American. I travelled alone for the first time, and every place I travelled to was the first time I'd ever been (obviously). I used AirBnBs for the first time. But what did I learn from all that shit?
Okay well that depends. On paper, I was primarily there for an education first and foremost. But we all know that isn't true. It wasn't even really a secondary reason for me wanting to go. I wanted to travel as much as I could. I wanted to start fresh somewhere that was my own choice for the first time in my life. I was in a rut back home and didn't know what to do after school was over (that last part didn't really go away but not the point).
I obviously learned a lot from my studies but...
I really tested and eventually learned what my alcohol intake limit is. (When in Ireland lol)
And my hiking limit (or I should say my lung capacity lolol)
And my patience and toleration for others
I learned how to live on my own for the first time
I learned that I'm not as shy as I thought I was (maybe because I didn't feel as much pressure?)
I learned how to make friends outside of a middle and high school type of setting
College there was the same as in Canada but also different, so I learned about that too
I learned about other peoples' heritages and nationalities and accents and interests
And about travelling smarter (AirBnBs are cheaper, carry-on only is easier, how to find the best attractions without sacrificing money...)
I also learned about grief and mourning after learning of a friend's passing, and how that affected me personally and how to get through it
I was forced to learn about dollar conversion to euros
In living alone I learned a lot of new recipes and what I liked to experiment with food-wise, and how I like things to be when I'm alone
I also lived with others for half my time there and learned that I hate it
^ piggybacking off of that, I learned HOW to be alone and learned that I require it to be a functioning human being
As it goes for everyone at some point in their lives, I learned about friendships and how to tell if they're genuine and long-lasting or not
I learned that the saying about not fully knowing someone until you've travelled with them is very much true
Travelling makes you learn more about frugality
It also teaches you a lot about history. I went to a lot of incredible places but the most memorable probably was the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland...
There are things you can learn from a book or a map or a Google search or a youtube video... but experiencing it firsthand is absolutely the way to go if you can. This goes hand-in-hand with my post about not taking life so god damn seriously. I went to Ireland to study for my fourth year in order to upgrade my diploma to a degree, but I didn't have a meltdown if I didn't get an A+ in every assignment or class. I took some Fridays or Mondays off to travel. I would go to the pub after school (not every day, but often enough) and would go out clubbing during the week. I made friends with strangers at bars and downtown and slept over in weird places, and went to school still very drunk and/or hungover the next morning, and I just lived. my. life. And I learned how to do that.
There's all those sayings about living to work or working to live, and travelling before you're too tied down, and being hands-on, and we travel not to escape life but so life doesn't escape us, and life is short, and alllllllll that. But a lot of people don't get the opportunity, or turn down the opportunity, to take advantage of the world in front of you. You don't have to travel across the world and spend thousands of dollars to make yourself educated and happy and liberated. You can start where you live now. Staycations! Be a local tourist. Go to museums in your town. Art galleries. If there's anything historical, learn about it. Things are tourist-attractions because those things generate enough interest from people globally to get them to travel to see it. You already live there, so do those things first! Start small. Explore your city. Then the county. Or the province/state. Maybe one day your own country (that's next on my list... I haven't been anywhere in Canada outside of southern Ontario and barely any of Nova Scotia).
There's a lot I didn't learn, but what I did learn in 10 months is the most valuable shit I've ever known.
What are lessons you've learned by trying new things?
xx ♡ S
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