the olive chickken

I’ve never been a fan of goodbyes. I never say them because it always feels so final. Instead, I’ll say things like see you later or see you soon. Because then there’s a chance that I’ll be back and it won’t be a goodbye forever.

Spent the last night saying goodbye wishing people safe travels and saying see you soon, and trying to stay up till the shuttle arrives at 4:20am. Failing almost miserably as I slept right through my alarm and had to sprint around to get ready in the dark and drag my luggage downstairs (sorry if I woke you up @Aubree). What a wake up call. Wasn’t all fully functional to fully comprehend the finality of everything. Hugging Kaya and Sara as they try not to shed tears as they watch their little shotskis fly home. It all felt so quick and unreal. Just as arriving had.

Battled in my mind about the best way to beat jet lag and get on California time asap. Ended up staying up on the whole shuttle ride (also what is it with drivers here??? Our guy was really hauling ass to get to the airport for some reason. He was booking it at 140km/hr in a full shuttle van). Regina, Michaela, and I parted ways with Ayetzy, Nadia, and SaVanna since their flight was earlier than ours. We set up shop at a cafe booth in the airport and had a light breakfast to kill time. Still had too much time on our hands. It was barely 6am and we couldn’t check in till 9am.

Getting through the airport was pretty breezy though. We made our first flight to Dublin with no problems and then quickly wished Michaela luck on her next Europe adventures with her family. Regina and I had to go to Customs, but luckily the workers were very friendly and the line was also speedy. HOORAY for not having to go through customs when we land at LAX!

The long haul (for me) wasn’t bad either. I think it’s because the lady who was sitting next to me moved to a different seat shortly after the plane took off. No one else claimed the seat, so I was able to spread out in my row. I stayed up that entire 10 hour flight. Weirdly enough, I wasn’t tired. Just mildly bored and trying to stay entertained. I listened to a few podcasts, watched Ralph Breaks the Internet, Bohemian Rhapsody, Monsters Inc, and part of Lilo and Stitch. I played Solitaire for god knows how long. I read some of Michelle Obama’s book, “Becoming.” And I ate all the food that the flight attendants offered throughout the trip because I had not eaten a proper meal since we left the Mönchsburg.

At points in the trip, it would hit me that I was actually coming home. I didn’t know what to feel. Sad? In denial? Happy? Confused? That’s for sure. Sad and in denial because I truly believe this has been one of the best few months of my life. Doing what I love to do and having the complete freedom to do so. I mean, when else do you have the chance to take a 4 month vacation from life? It’s unreal. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity and experiences. Happy? Yes :) Who knew that traveling non-stop could be tiring at times. I was happy to get a break and be back home with the people I love dearly. Confused? yeeeet. It’s a lot to process.

I’m not gonna lie, when I opened the shade and looked out the window to see that we were flying over Nevada and California, I’ve never been so sad to see a desert in my whole life. WHERE ARE ALL THE ENDLESS GREEN FIELDS AND THE SNOW FROSTED MOUNTAINS? Why is everything all brown, hazy, and endlessly populated? It was a somewhat sad reality check, but it’s also my home.

I’m home.

It feels good to be surrounded by the familiar and to feel that sense of being home. It feels good to see your love waiting at the bottom of the escalators with a bouquet of roses, a big smile, and a warm hug. It feels good to eat In-N-Out burgers with animal style fries. It feels good to go on long drives home in a car and to talk about conspiracy theories in person instead of over FaceTime. It feels good to watch the hot red sun set and to have the windows down and smell the familiar smells of the city and nature. Everything here is hustling and bustling and sometimes it’s sensory overload. But after a while, you start to acclimate to life back at home and begin to see the beauty of everything around you.

Thank you Nick for trusting me to go on this incredible journey and for sticking by my side even when we’re 6000 miles apart. I love you. Thank you to my family and parents for supporting my goals and dreams, and for helping me to achieve them.

Thank you to my hardworking professors for encouraging us to step outside of our comfort zone and challenge what we know. Thank you for showing us how to approach problems from different angles and for giving us a unique opportunity to look at Salzburg, Austria, and Europe from different lenses.

Thank you to my Salzy Fam for all the marvelous memories, the ups and downs, and the bonds that will never be broken. Thank you to Sara, Kaya, and Katharina for organizing the semester and for keeping it real. You’ve made this experience a genuine treasure for us to hold and cherish forever.

Last weekend in Salzburg (visiting Mirabellplatz when the sun is out and the snow is melted)

mini series of photos

1. enjoying Easter at the Aug

2. taking a class trip to the art museum

3. volunteering at Theo and socializing cats

Behold, the moment I’ve been waiting for: solo travel.

Dun Dun DUUUUN.

Nah, it wasn’t that daunting. It was a nice one-on-one day trip date with myself in Munich. Now, I can finally cross solo travel off my list of things I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I’m glad it came around at this point in my life and at this point in the semester too. I had become comfortable enough with traveling in general and via trains and other public transportation, and I believed I could do it and not die or get stranded.

Pros about traveling by yourself: being able to do anything you want anytime you want. No one is there to hold you back but yourself if you choose to. When you travel with others, there’s always going to be a compromise of a sort unless everyone is 100% on board with everything 24/7. Which is great too when everyone there wants to be there doing whatever it is you are doing. However, throughout this semester, I’ve found that there have been many compromises for activities or restaurants in the places we’ve visited. So it was a nice change of pace to just do what I wanted to do. And so I spent the day walking 8 miles basically non-stop around the city of Munich. I might have started with a direction in mind, but if I steered off course it was no problem. I just continued wandering because I could and there wasn’t a set schedule to my day.

Cons about traveling by yourself: it can get a little lonely. I will say it was quite nice to be in my own company and just enjoy the silence and the sounds of the city. However, I also found myself wanting to share this experience with one of my friends and have them join me at the Aug for lunch since it’s a social experience. Of course, you can always meet people while you’re out and about. But it is nice to skip the small talk and just be goofy with the people you’ve already formed friendships with.

It was late morning when I committed to the idea of traveling to Munich by myself. No one else was up in the house and it was now or never, or I would miss the next train. After eating a filling breakfast and packing a sandwich and berries for lunch, I sprint walked down the mountain and across the river to the train station. I was also out of data at this point and needed to stop by A1 to replace my European sim with my US one. Thankfully, I was able to make it all happen and still had a solid 15 minutes before the train left.

I had been to Munich before, but only as a stopping point at train stations or at the airport. Other than that, I had not visited the actual city yet. It’s kinda like Salzburg’s older and cooler brother. There’s so much to do and I found that it was quite diverse (like Berlin) compared to other areas in Europe.

I walked. And walked. And then walked some more after that. I started at the train station and made my way to Marienplatz, but missed a turn and ended up at a park nearby. So I walked through it, found a little art gallery, and took my time soaking in the sculptures and paintings on display. This time, I actually did make it to Marienplatz and crossed the little castle arc opening. It was bustling with people today. I also stopped inside a church and when I popped back out in front of the glockenspiel, there was a protest for Veganism and animal rights. It was interesting to see how this movement advertises itself here in different countries. I stopped by a few booths and then carried on my way. I found another market area (Viktualienmarkt) filled with little shops selling fruits, cheeses, honey, sausages, sandwiches, and other foods. But I had packed a lunch and wasn’t hungry, so I made my way over to Old Town.

As I was wandering through Old Town, I saw Maximilianeum off in the distance and made my way over to it. I crossed over the river and then continued towards Vienna Square before turning back. I walked up through the park surrounding Maximilianeum and stumbled upon Friedensengel. Once again, I crossed another bridge, passed by the Bavarian National Museum, and entered another park. I found Eisbachwelle, where several individuals in wetsuits took turns riding the waves of the river on their miniature surf boards. It was pretty entertaining! :)

I sat on a park bench and took some time to rest and eat the lunch I had packed in my backpack. It was calming and relaxing to watch the river. I was also trying to coordinate my train back and figured if I started heading over now, I would catch the 4:50pm train and be back around 7pm. I walked through the park and cut across to the area of Maxvorstadt. I passed by art museum central and continued my speed walk towards the train station. Luckily, I had made it with 10ish minutes to spare and managed to find a seat on the already packed train. An older woman took a seat next to me as well. I figured this would take me all the way back to Salzburg and had nothing to worry about for the 2 hours on the train. So I took a quick nap.

Cloudy, hazy days up at the fortress and in Salzburg