This past June, I graduated with my Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering and decided to embark on a two month solo backpacking adventure through Europe. Even though this was the first summer since high school that I wasn't employed, I didn't exactly plan this trip as a vacation. Sure, it would be fun and free of homework, but my main motivation for going was to challenge myself to be content with uncertainty and a lack of definite financial security. Instead of scrambling to find a job to begin advancing my career, I wanted to take a step back and calm down, to remember that work and money is not the purpose of my life, and to just learn to take risks and do something. What better way than to go to a bunch of foreign countries and sleep in hostels next to strangers from all over the world??
But I'll stop here because this may turn into an overly dramatic introspective analysis of personal growth for a trip that only lasted about 60 days. Europe was a very safe place with clean tap water, fabulous public transportation, and plenty of English speakers. I even planned everything in advance, so I never had to aimlessly wander around looking for a place to stay (though there were a few times I almost missed my train).
In any case, stay tuned for more posts. They'll mostly be just photos, but I'll be sure to include all the fun and strange stories if I can remember them.
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| Seine river at night. |
