During the weeks before and after my exams at Trinity, I took two
separate backpacking trips to mainland Europe. Largely dictated by the
small budget I had, I found the experience of minimalistic traveling
exhilarating and a welcome challenge.
I often found myself contemplating
the boxes of things sitting in my closet back in Arkansas, already
mentally sorting through and ridding myself of all the excess, useless
stuff I have accumulated throughout my life. Not having the distraction
of all that baggage we leave at home can make traveling a much rawer,
much more influential ordeal.
First, I traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark- land of Vikings, some
culinary genius called an “egg wrap”, and modern design. The second
excursion was to Portugal’s charming second largest city, Porto, and
later to gorgeous Barcelona. Every one of the three cities I visited was
beautiful in its own way, and instead of rambling on and on, this is
the perfect opportunity for a photo blog! So without further ado…
Next was Portugal, hometown of port wine and the Douro River.
City #3 was Barcelona, where I met up with a friend- welcome company
after traveling independently for so long! The night before landing in
Spain, I had spent the night in the Porto airport, which may have
contributed to my expression in the first photo we took together:
Even in my own “bite off more than I can chew” plans for this
semester abroad, I hadn’t dreamed I would be able to make it to so many
different countries. Dublin is the perfect jumping off point for a
student like me- willing to pack a backpack and plop themselves down in a
completely different culture with almost nothing more than a small
budget and a good pair of shoes to go on.
Colleen Boardman was a student at the University of Arkansas and an official API Blogger. Colleen studied abroad with API in Dublin, Ireland.
