Where it all began
My parents applied for my passport as soon as I was born.
I was on a plane to Antigua when I was 6 months old.
The end. Kidding kidding.
Let me start off by saying that it was normal to visit various islands in the Caribbean and California (shout out Inglewood!) on my school breaks. I travelled so often growing up that, I 100% thought everyone’s family packed massive suitcases, maybe a barrel, and headed somewhere warm for 2-3 weeks at least twice a year. Ha!
Of course with time, I came to realize that that wasn’t normal by a long shot and can definitely acknowledge the privileges I grew up with.
Whenever I visited my grandma in Antigua, she would take me to other islands such as St. Maarten, St. Croix and St. Thomas. My grandma was a social butterfly who loved to catch a flight and hang out with her girlfriends, who had moved to other islands over the years. Again, I thought all grandmas did that!
But what really kicked off my wanderlust? Well, it was a high school exchange to Luxembourg when I was 16 years old (thanks for letting me go mom!!) . That semester abroad opened my eyes in a way I could never have imagined. I spent those months indulging in Luxembourgish culture, food (baguettes? for lunch? every day if I wanted?!), making new friends and really nailing my French accent.
On school breaks and long weekends (which seemed quite often) I visited Spain, France, England, Belgium and Germany with my host family. The notion of getting our morning bread from France or accidentally crossing into Germany while out walking around never got old. Luxembourg is tiny compared to Canada and the proximity of nearby countries literally blew my mind.
I wrote down the timeline of my first trip to Europe. As if I would forget! Also, happy to say my writing hasn’t changed too much!
I loved hearing any of the 5 main languages in Luxembourg at any given moment, eating way too many pains au chocolat at break time, hopping over to Germany for shopping on the weekend and having extra long lunches (but wow, it sucked being in class until 4pm as a teenager).
Let’s be real, I loved so many things about Europe!
At the Athénée de Luxembourg (my high school), it was an annual tradition for each class to pick a place they wanted to visit for the semester. My class picked Paris for ours…I was in heaven. I definitely enjoyed my 48 hour stay there before heading to Luxembourg City to begin my exchange, but that class trip was something else. At the big age of 16, I truly thought I was living my best life in Paris. That city grabbed my heart and never let go.
Living in Europe for a semester lit a fire under me to see as much of the world as possible. I knew then, that I would need a really really good job to pay for all the travel I wanted to do and in the way I wanted to do it. Some of you reading this may already know- I was spoiled in Luxembourg and it *ruined* me (for some context: I had a maid who would cut up my grapefruit and sprinkle sugar on it for me every morning).
Honestly though, I’m beyond grateful for that semester abroad. I loved travelling before, but living in Europe took it to another level and I’ve never looked back!
xo
