Costa Rica will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first time I had been out of the country and my first international solo trip. It was the moment that I had fallen in love with everything I didn’t know. It was the country that made me realize that I was going to travel as far and wide as I could as long as I am alive.

Costa Rica taught me that kindness has no language barrier. That there is so much beauty in the simple things. Watching the rain drip off of the tin roof. Watching people have their 5pm coffee with friends. Kids greeting me through the gates of their houses, faces smushed against and hands waving through the the bars as I walked by.

England, a country I have returned to time and time again. England, but more specifically London, is the moment I fell in love with the possibility of my future. A city so vibrant and gloomy, a living juxtaposition in every which way. A city full of grit and grace, rolling hills and cobblestone streets, historic pubs and new high rises. So many cultures, so much history. So much green. So much dance. This was the first country I could see myself creating a life abroad.

In England I learned how much beauty comes from gloom. How all of the parks, lined with trees and flowers need both the dark and the light in order to become beautiful. I remind myself of this often, as the same goes for human beings.

I spent a summer in Italy not too long ago. I traveled all over the country. Swam in many of its rivers and streams. Walked many paths others walked several centuries before me. Admired its beauty in every aspect. The trains packed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty people, the art of watching someone make a cappuccino, and the boisterous live music filling the air at dusk.

Italy taught me that sometimes silence is the best way to learn. Waking up every morning I heard the locals opening their windows, starting their motorcycles for the day, cooking a big breakfast while listening to opera on the radio. I feel like I learned about Italy by just staying silent and watching. It was a beautiful gift to receive.

France. Wow. What a place you are! I took my second international solo trip to France and visited a wonderful friend I met in Costa Rica. What an amazing thing to be able to do. I feel nothing but love for France - the city, the countryside, the sea. It is a country where I learned many many things. I learned (roughly) what wines go with what foods and how different friendships can look.

France taught me that distance doesn’t dictate if a friendship lasts. True connection is what keeps hearts close even though physical bodies have thousands of miles between them. For that, I am incredibly lucky.