Before I left on my international journey, I promised myself I would travel as much as I could. While this proved to be a little more difficult than I had hoped with my class schedule, at the start of my study break two days ago, I embarked on my most exciting trip. As I write this, I am in Australia seeing the sights and visiting my girlfriend! Since I got here, the insane time difference has caught up with me and I have mainly just slept, but the highlight so far has been enjoying an “Angry Onion” from Hungry Jacks- spicy onion rings that I had been hearing her talk about for months on end. Even before meeting up with her in Newcastle, this trip has instilled within me the confidence that I am able to travel internationally by myself. When I initially flew over to Ireland, I had the privilege of my mom flying over with me so we could explore Dublin for a few weeks before the start of the semester and visit family in the area. Before departing for my Australian vacation, I was petrified of something going wrong in the airport and getting stuck alone in a foreign country. Thankfully, everything went perfectly smoothly, giving me a boost of confidence in my self-sufficiency in particularly stressful situations.
Even before my current excursion for study break, I have still been able to take advantage of loads of opportunities to get out of Maynooth! A few weeks after arriving, some friends and I took a trip to the cliffs at Greystone- about 3 hours away from campus. I knew there would be walking involved, but if I definitely would have worn more supportive shoes if I had known it would be over four miles! Despite the grueling walk and the constant rain (which I honestly should have expected) it was one of the best days I’ve had so far in Ireland. The cliffs were absolutely breathtaking and I got hundreds of great landscape pictures! Next, we took a trip to Gallway. Although it’s hard to compare it to the beauty of the cliffs in Greystone, it was definitely up there! It had great nightlife and I had my first experience staying in a hostel. When we went to leave, we ended up taking a detour trip to the Aran Islands, where we saw historical sights, tons of seals and wild dogs, and ate at the cutest cafe run by old ladies who spoke absolutely no english.