Julia is Traveling

So I did the math, and I've been in Dublin for 74 days and counting. I did a little more math, and I have about 7 weeks left until I go home. That feels surreal. I didn't do a halftime check in so I feel like now is a good time to dial into my emotions as I am more than half way through with my trip.  One of my friends Parker posted a story on her account talking about how emotionally draining studying abroad is. I don't really let myself think about how exhausting this whole trip is because who really wants to hear my complain when about studying abroad in fucking Ireland.  "Oh you're tired? Must be so exhausting traveling the world and going out every night."  As I wrote in my first blog, there's a lot of things no one tells you and that you don't expect when traveling abroad. If you're abroad alone, the loneliness sets in fast. If you travel a lot, the money starts to dwindle. If you're always moving and doing, your burnouts are even more dr...

  Febuary 21st-March 6th Did you guys feel that Earthquake Monday the 21? Specifically at 1:30 pm Budapest time? That was the radioactive eruption of Merci and I hugging. The two most popular, beautiful, amazing people from Ithaca college were reunited in Budapest.  Let me take you back in time. 2019 to be exact. Before Covid was a worry for us, four Ithaca freshman – Athina, Merci, Nick, and Ani– had a trip planned for that upcoming summer. Merci would take her three besties to Budapest for the best trip of their lives. Bad news for them, Covid prevented that trip from happening. GOOD NEWS FOR ME THOUGH because I wasn't able to go on the trip (still a sore subject)! Flash forward to 2022, and I am ironically the first of Merci's friends to see her origin country.  Merci's stomping grounds. Merci's homeland. Merci in Hungary. I flew to Budapest Monday morning and was in Merci's bed by 12:00.  I think I've mentioned this before, but one of the hardest parts of be...

Yes, the rumors are true. I traveled three hours outside of Dublin, by myself. ALL by myself.  I taxi'd to the train station, all on my own.  Taxi'd to the other train station because I went to the wrong one, all on my own. Took a train, all by myself. Transferred trains, all alone.  Got lunch at the Curious Cat cafe, ALONE.  Checked into my hostel, (independently by myself). Then I did the biggest thing of all: I WENT ON A 15 MILE HIKE.  ALONE. I visited the Killarney national park last weekend. My hostel advertised that they were 1 minute away from the national park, but what they failed to mention was that the mountains, a part of the park, were FOUR MILES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK. So I suited up in my cute hiking outfit with my cute hiking boots and cute rain jacket and cute hiking backpack, then set off four miles to the park. I began the journey a little unsure because the mountains did not seem to be getting closer. After about an hour of walking alo...