Don’t Get Jet Lag from Life

You know the feeling – the one you get when you return from a great trip. Be it a short weekend away or a long exquisite vacation… there’s a sluggish, languid feeling you get when you’re forced to return to the mundane normalities of life. Even the small things such as unpacking a suitcase feel unpleasant. When your mindset is on “vacation time”, the jet lag can be more than just a time zone change.

While being back at my mom’s house has been great (I’ve gotten more hugs and kisses from my little siblings than I had in a long time), I must admit it’s been a strange transition. After five months on a new continent, traveling to new cities every few weeks, sipping wine, and climbing mountains, it was really tough to come back to the quaint Amish town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’m now spending hours every day doing online summer classes and working at my summer job six days per week. In just a little while, I’ll be packing up my car once more for the trip back down to my home, the beautiful beach town of Wilmington, North Carolina (check out the pictures below). It’ll be another search for a part time job and before I know it, August will be here with my fall semester in tow. Here’s the thing, although my life requires me to work around 30 hours a week in order to help pay my bills and go to college five days a week to get my degree, I want to use the spare time I do have to explore.

Sure, I’ve seen Dublin and Paris and Barcelona and Rome. But I’ve never hiked the woody forests of Asheville or explored the city streets of Charlotte or hang glided in Kitty Hawk. There are so many things in the state that I now call home that I haven’t yet seen or done. I might not be halfway across the world anymore, but I know there’s a little something called southern charm that I’ve only seen bits and pieces of. And I want more.

If there’s one thing I learned while I was abroad and talking to people, it’s that so many of those that I met had seen the world but hadn’t really seen much of the state or country where they call “home”. I noticed the reoccurrence so many times that it really stuck out to me and I decided I didn’t want to ever be one of those people. And here’s a mind blowing fact –  it’s even cheaper than traveling abroad.

So, if you don’t have money for a hotel lodge in the Swiss Alps, stay in a cozy cottage in the Appalachians! I think it’s so important to appreciate what’s just a few hours away from us just as much as we appreciate the other side of the world. Different cultures and different people are out there. Some are closer than you think. Stay tuned.. I just might occasionally blog about the adventures that I find in my own backyard.

 

There Is No Green Beer In Ireland

Over the four days I spent in the beautiful, lush countryside of Ireland, I learned quite a few things.

First of all, the locals (although sweeter than honey and more than willing to stop and talk) give horrible directions. Within my first hour of departing the airport, I was given wrong directions for which bus to take and which direction to head for my hostel by multiple people. Thankfully, I’m perfectly okay with wandering around aimlessly and took the time to enjoy the scenery.

Next, I learned that it is in fact possible to have too much coffee. I don’t know what kind I’m drinking in America, but my three cups a day there can’t hold a candle to the three tiiiiiny cups I had in Dublin. I’d heard rave reviews about “3fe” and their Trio Tasting. It was a espresso shot, a ‘milky coffee’ (latte-eqsue), and ‘filter coffee’ (plain black, I added tons of brown sugar). I took my time with each and cleansed my palate with sparkling water, as instructed, in between tastings. However, I left the cafe and for the next two hours, my hands were shaking uncontrollably! A caffeine high that I would most definitely enjoy again though.

I also found out that Ireland is equally as beautiful on the east side of the island as it is on the west. My friends and I booked what turned out to be one of the best bus tour experiences I’ve had in my life (besides my tour guide Fabian from Costa Rica). We had a long haired Jesus/Russel Brand-looking guide who confessed to not being born in Ireland originally – but that’s okay because he was still cute and funny and his accent was to die for…. wait, where was I?! Oh right, so we made our way across the island by bus, hearing interesting Irish stories and stopping at various places along the way. We saw Dunguaire Castle, Bunratty Castle, Burren Chocolatiers, and even a graveyard where we peeked our heads inside a grave and saw five skulls of people who were buried together. Our final destination, the Cliffs of Moher, were something no picture can capture. I tried, of course, but I thoroughly recommend seeing it for yourself.

 

Finally, I learned that St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin consists of endless church bells and regular colored beer (sorry, America, you’re doing it wrong). I get that the Christchurch is where Handel played “Messiah” and that’s amazing, but wow. You can only hear church bells for so long without going crazy. I’m talking hours. Thankfully, the parade started then and my friend Cameron and I were able to watch from our hostel window. Then, we ventured out onto the insanely crowded streets to take on the day. Whoever told me Ireland doesn’t really celebrate St. Paddy’s Day was extremely mistaken. Now, don’t get me wrong, the majority of people there were 20-somethings studying abroad or on spring break. However, I met quite a few locals there partying just as hard as the tourists (some even over the age of 60).

In between learning these things, I also managed to stand in awe of the Old Library in Trinity College; it holds one copy of every book ever published in Ireland and the entire United Kingdom. My mom can tell you how much of a book nerd I used to be (or still am, shh) and I was loving it. I met friends from Spain, Paris, and Arizona. I ate McDonald’s three times in just over 24 hours. And I decided that although I still despise the taste of Guinness, I absolutely positively must return to Ireland.

T-Minus 6 days until Spring Break. Stay tuned…