After going on a writing marathon the past two weeks, recalling and reminiscing (and googling the places I visited) about my trip to Europe, I have made a tl;dr version of the four-part Europe Trip series listing the lessons I learned. Enjoy!
Lesson #1: It is easier to unconditionally love more people than it is to conditionally love someone. So do not be afraid to love one another!
Lesson #2: London is one expensive city to be in. Do not be misled by the prices in British Pounds. You need to multiply that price approximately by 1.4 (as of March 2016) to understand its true cost in US Dollars.
Lesson #3: Clothes dryers are a luxury outside of the USA.
Lesson #4: British people are genuinely more polite than American people. Boom. I said it.
Lesson #5: There is no concept of a line in Italy. You must conform to their inefficient logistical bottlenecks when boarding an airline gate, or making a purchase at the street shop.
Lesson #6: I would be hard-pressed to eat pizza from Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and/or Papa John’s after tasting authentic Italian pizza.
Lesson #7: Europeans love their scarves. My friend told me that I look like a high-end male escort in my pictures. I took that remark as a compliment, as I attribute it to my posh scarf.
Lesson #8: Spanish people eat late. Although, I have no problem in taking siestas. I am a firm believer that you work the amount of hours you need to in order to complete the job.
Lesson #9: Kissing cheek-to-cheek is normal when greeting people in Spain, even with a stranger. I sure do appreciate the affection and hospitality of Spanish people. Muah! Muah!
Lesson #10: Potatoes, sweet pastries, seafood, and pork are a big part of the Spanish diet.
Lesson #11: The monkeys in Gibraltar, known as Barbary Macaque, are fascinating creatures. Who knew that there would be amusement found in playing with one?
Lesson #12: Gypsies are an odd group of people.
Lesson #13: Listening without judgement goes a long way in understanding people, even though you may not know what to say.
Lesson #14: Knowing people in many places makes a trip more fulfilling, and easier on the wallet. You also give them a reason to check out places around they otherwise would not regularly visit on their own.
- My cousin had only been to Edinburgh once before our trip.
- My cuz rarely goes to the public beaches, but went with me to eat ice cream one afternoon.
- My friend had never been to Segovia until we went.
Lesson #15: Being able to freely travel without a visa, and having the means to do so are blessings in their own right.
Lesson #16: Staying in one place or city for at least three days is ideal when on vacation, since travelling from one place to another is exhausting and takes a big part of your day.
Lesson #17: Meeting fellow countrymen in other countries outside of your home country makes a trip abroad more interesting. Those Asian-type-discerning-skills learned from college sure came in handy!
Lesson #18: Living a modest life with many rich relationships trumps living a wealthy life with no one to share the successes with.
Lesson #19: Do not be afraid to pose foolishly when taking numerous pictures! At least one of them will be facebook-worthy to generate numerous “reactions” that make you feel good about yourself for two days.
Lesson #20: It is best to keep your plans and experiences low key, because people are too self-absorbed with their own lives. Heck, if I did not care much about many peoples’ plans, what makes me think that they will care much about mine?
Lesson #21: Now that I “popped the cherry” in travelling abroad, it is time to plan the next destination abroad for next year.
Those are the worthy lessons I learned abroad. I would not trade my experiences those three weeks for anything, since those experiences are now a part of me. I am one step closer to a better me, whatever that definition may be. Off to making new memories and sharing it on the Noy Sauce domain. Cheers!
For reference, here are the posts to the Europe Trip series: