My first month has\nbeen a whirlwind of excitement, change and adventure. I’ve eaten more than I’ve\never thought possible but I’ve also walked the equivalent of that every day in\nRome. I think my new favorite treat here is the wonderful (although somewhat\ntouristy) gelato crepes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s been a great time, but amidst the eventfulness, I’ve encountered an unexpected challenge that I don’t think many people tell you about before going abroad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve found there’s a\ngood amount of pressure to travel both frequently and far. Many students here\nleave Italy each weekend to explore different countries throughout Europe.\nUnderstandably there’s a big rush to get in as many different places as\npossible while abroad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it’s good to\ntake advantage of the proximity of other countries in Europe, I do think it can\nput pressure on students who are unsure of where they want to go or who can’t\ntravel as often. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have been a\nfew times where friends of mine have left for the weekend and I’d almost felt\nguilty for staying in Rome. Since I’m only here for a short amount of time, it\nfeels like each weekend needs precise planning and intention. Sometimes the freedom\nand extent of options can be overwhelming. Where will I go? Who will I go with?\nWhat will I do there? Will I travel within the country or go beyond?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth about this\nkind of pressure is that it isn’t necessary. The plans of others should never\ndictate your own in the sense that you shouldn\u2019t feel pressured to leave simply\nbecause others do. You don’t need to do enough<\/em>\nin order to make the most of your time abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the weekends that\nI’ve stayed close to home, I’ve learned to better understand the quality of my\nown experiences versus comparing them to the quantity of others. Staying in\ntown has allowed me to discover interesting places that most have not had the opportunity\nto for lack of time. Some of my best days have been right here in Rome,\nuncovering hidden parks, artsy neighborhoods and local record shops. One of my\nfavorite memories is a simple walk I had along the Tiber River while listening\nto live music by local Italians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In truth, there\nisn’t enough time to see everything in one semester. You can certainly try to\nget in as much as possible, but that doesn’t guarantee it will be a meaningful\nexperience. There’s a place for weekends to travel far but it’s also good to\nlet yourself fall in love with where you are. To explore that place in depth<\/em>. To allow yourself to integrate more\nthan as just a tourist would, but as a local would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve begun to\nuncover what I value in traveling and how I can make the most of my time\nabroad. It’s been a wonderful learning experience so far and I’m excited to see\nwhat new discoveries arise as the rest of the semester unfolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So to those who\ntravel outside their study abroad country and to those who stay close to home,\nrest assured there’s no pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My first month has been a whirlwind of excitement, change and adventure. I’ve eaten more than I’ve ever thought possible but I’ve also walked the equivalent of that every day in Rome. I think my new favorite treat here is the wonderful (although somewhat touristy) gelato crepes. It’s been a great time, but amidst the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[369],"class_list":["post-19920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-isarome","tag-rollinsabroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19920"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19922,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19920\/revisions\/19922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}