First Solo Travel

The morning after my amazing 18th birthday party, I went on my first solo trip. During the trip, I was able to meet up with some other people in my organization, as well as spend the night away from my host family for the first time.

I learned some very valuable things on this trip, especially in terms of the traveling part itself. I was really nervous to finally take a shot of navigating bus schedules, train lines, and cities without help but in the end, it all worked out just fine. There were of course the set backs of delayed trains and one missed transfer, but it's good to have some of those problems early on so that next time you'll know exactly how to handle them. Before this trip, I had next to no experience planning and traveling on my own. I have of course ridden European trains before, but never under the pressure of knowing exactly what I need to do at all times. Before, I was always following someone else.

After meeting up with friends for the day in a smaller city about 200km away from where my host family lives, I traveled to the capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover, where I spent the night with the host family of a fellow exchange student. It was really cool to meet his host family and see how they did things. It's important to recognize how different exchange year experiences can be with different people, so staying in Hanover was a cool new perspective.

When spending time in Hanover the next day with my fellow exchange student, I felt like I was in the book The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. My host family placement was out in farmland with hardly any other buildings in sight, whereas my fellow exchange student's host family placement was in the heart of the biggest city in Lower Saxony. Although slightly intimidated, I got to see what city life was like a little which was really cool.

With one solo trip under my belt, I am feeling better than ever about adventures to come. I learned a lot of good lessons on this trip, and I hope to keep those lessons in mind for future travels.