Hello family and friends!
If you know anything about me, you probably know that I LOVE to travel. And I mean, really, really, love to travel. I have some of the best memories from traveling, and it has always been one of my biggest passions. I love any kind of travel. From anything as grand as backpacking around Europe to building houses in Africa, if I get to go somewhere and experience something different, I'm in awe.
I've been thinking about studying abroad since before high school, but have never really invested as much into it until now. My freshmen year of college, I began looking into the process of studying abroad for a semester, but soon realized due to my enormous course load and desire to graduate a year early, a semester program just wasn't practical. So, me being me, I decided to further investigate because I wasn't willing to give up my hopes and dreams of studying abroad quite yet. I talked to numerous advisers, reviewed the courses I still needed to complete, and (most importantly) started working my butt off to raise money for a trip that would cost more than I worth. And tada! We've finally made it.
Unfortunately getting to this point hasn't been a walk in the park, and that walk in the park isn't quite over yet. I've still got EXACTLY two months (I leave on May 22nd) before I board a plane and can actually say I'm off to Ireland. Regardless, I just sent my final deposit in, which has made this whole experience feel real enough for me. It was hard enough picking the program. First I had to decide where I wanted to go. I spent more time than I'd like to admit deciding where I wanted to go. This is my first overseas excursion and I wanted to pick a destination that would offer something unique, yet not make me feel isolated due to cultural differences. I decided on Ireland because it has always been on my list of dream destinations (this may or may not be due to my obvious heritage connection to the Irish land and people). Among the other countries who I decided to put off until next time are Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, UK, Scotland, Netherlands, Austria... let's be real, I could go on and on with this list.
Anyway, my departure date is set tentatively as May 22nd. My last final for classes is May 18th, so that date somehow worked out perfectly. I plan on returning around July 1st, but if the Irish people fall in-love with this unique redheaded American, I'm not sure I can let my people down and just leave. We'll see. In other exciting news, my brother is planning on joining me for the last two weeks of my adventure! My program actually ends on June 16th, so I'm planning on running wild in Ireland for at least two weeks after my class ends. I'm hoping to make it over to London for a few days as well.
I guess that's it for now. If you didn't get the hint that I'M REALLY FREAKING EXCITED, I'm sure you'll probably hear it from me sooner or later. I'm excited for this summer, and for finally being able to experience a different country (Canada doesn't count). I'm thankful I was able to work and earn enough money for this trip. I'm thankful my boss still wants me to come back to work after my summer excursion. I'm thankful my parents are so supportive. I'm thankful my brother wants to spend two weeks with me in Ireland. I'm thankful I got accepted into this study abroad program. I'm just very thankful that this is finally becoming a reality. This is too good to be true!
Looking forward to the summer! (not looking forward to the midterm I have tomorrow).
Thanks for reading!
PLEASE send me any information you have about Ireland. (Know anybody there? Any cool places I should see? Any good beers I should try?)
Don't be shy to shoot me an email- anything is helpful! :)
My email is asdutton@dons.usfca.edu
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| Little Aarin and Adam (brother) enjoying traveling as young-lings. |
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| One of my favorite U.S travel destinations for camping/hiking (I've been to Arches National Park 3 times!) |
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