Away I Go!

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's already that time...but it's the night before my big trip to Europe! This is my first time overseas, and I've had wanderlust for as long as I can remember, so this is a dream come true to me. It still hasn't completely hit me that I'm actually going. Right now I'm more focused on getting there; hoping my flight from Buffalo to JFK isn't delayed, so I won't miss my connecting flight to Dublin. I think it will finally hit me once I'm on my flight bound for Dublin, but right now I don't think it's completely sunk in.

For those of you don't know, this is my itinerary for Europe!
- Dublin
- Holyhead, Wales
- London
- Amsterdam
- Brussels
- Paris
- Lucerne
- Florence
- Pisa
- French Riviera
- Barcelona

And that's it! I'll be gone for 25 days (July 6 - 25). It's a long time, but I know it will fly by. I'm traveling with a group tour, EF College Break. I don't know anyone in my group, so I'm sure I'll be creating lifelong friendships and bonds with my fellow travelers. I think going on an organized tour for my first time abroad is the right way to do it; I want to travel to so many destinations so picking and choosing my own itinerary for Europe is quite overwhelming considering Europe is so vast and there are so many places I want to see! Also, at my age, it was just too difficult to find friends who could set aside such a large chunk of time to travel together. We all have so many different things going on in our lives that it was pretty much impossible to find the right time that would work for everyone. And I don't know if I could handle going 100% solo to Europe for my very first time. I know several people who have traveled with EF before and I've heard nothing but positive things so I'm excited and I feel like I'm in good hands.

Anyways, all I'll have with me is my iPhone, but I've downloaded the Blogger app so hopefully I'll pop in frequently to post my experiences on the fly! They probably won't be too elaborate, I'll save that for when I'm home and I have more time to reflect on my experience (along with an actual keyboard and a reliable wi-fi connection).

I'll post pictures via my Instagram, but I've got my Nikon DSLR where I'll be taking a whole bunch of pictures, but I'll have to wait until I'm home to upload those.

So I hope you enjoy reading the experiences of an overexcited first time traveler who is fulfilling a life-long dream!! Wish me safe travels, and I'll check back in when I'm in Dublin! xoxoxo