In January of this year, I was invited to go to a business conference with the boss of the Public Relations internship I had at the time. The event, which she organized, connected graduate school communications professionals with influential media members. Each year, it takes place in different cities, and this year, it was two days in London and one in Madrid.
I immediately accepted the invitation and impulsively asked if she could book my return flight a few weeks later, allowing me to travel solo. She said yes and sent me the flight information later that day. After a brief moment of excitement, I was suddenly terrified. I didn’t even have a passport yet and now I would be solo-traveling through Europe for two weeks.
I immediately chose my route and started planning. I meticulously researched hostels and activities to do in each city, and by the time May rolled around, I had all of my hostels, flights, and a loose itinerary. The day after my last final, I packed up and headed to Boston for my first flight: off to London.
London: May 6-8
I flew into London with another intern, Kenzie, and we landed in the late morning on Monday, May 6th. Thankfully, our red-eye flight left me with minimal jet lag, so we had a full day to explore. After getting settled at the hotel (one of my two hotels on the trip; my boss paid for these but I was on a much lower budget for the solo portion), we went to the National Gallery Museum which was free to attend. I got to see some beautiful art, including Van Gogh, Seurat, and Picasso paintings. That evening, Kenzie and I wandered around the city, catching glimpses of the London Eye and Big Ben.
The next two days were busy with the conference, where I had the opportunity to network and learn from many well-connected individuals in the communications field. It was a big move forward in my future career and I was excited to do it again for one more day in Madrid. This was a good place to start the trip since I spoke the language and had a bit of time to acclimate to being in a new country before going to Spain.
Madrid: May 9-11
Our first day in Madrid consisted of the last day of the conference, and after that, I was officially in travel mode. My boss actually let Kenzie and I leave early, so we had that entire afternoon to wander the city. We drank sangria at one of the nearby parks and roamed the streets, exploring museums, delicious restaurants, and shops. We finished up our first day with a group dinner where I got to get to know the conference attendees a little bit more and then stumbled upon a hidden speakeasy later that night in a burger restaurant, which was hands down one of the coolest experiences of the whole trip.
The following days were filled with shopping, indulging in tapas, and dancing at nightclubs, along with a traditional flamenco show. The Madrid portion of the trip ended with an amazing paella lunch at my boss’ friend’s home, and then the next morning Kenzie and my boss were off to the airport while I got a cab to the train station to continue my adventure.
Valencia: May 12-15
I got to the train station in Madrid with plenty of time to spare so I relaxed a bit and waited for my train to arrive. The ride to Valencia was just over two hours and had some of the most beautiful views; it made me further envy all of the areas of the world with effective public transit. After getting off the train, I made my way to my hostel and put away all my belongings, pleasantly surprised at how nice the hostel was. I walked over to a small restaurant and had some tapas when immediately a group of people struck up a conversation with me and offered to show me around. Only one spoke fluent English, one spoke a little, and the other did not speak any, so it was a great way to practice my Spanish (I am still quite bad, but I tried my best!). After dinner, we went to a local bar for a drink and they showed me some other fun parts of the city that locals loved.
The next day, I went to a few popular sights, like the Mercat Central (Central Market) and la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences). Later that evening, I met up with one of the conference attendees who lived in Valencia and her boyfriend, who brought me to the most delicious food hall for dinner. They also introduced me to what is now my favorite drink, Agua de Valencia, a Spanish cocktail made with fresh-squeezed orange juice, cava, gin, vodka, and sugar. Valencia has some of the best oranges in the world; the drink was amazing and so refreshing.
My last day in Valencia had to be a beach day, as the city is a very popular tourist spot for beaches. I rented a bike from the hostel and biked my way over to the beach, where I rented a chaise lounge and spent the day tanning and swimming in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, I fell asleep and woke up to what might have been the worst sunburn of my life. So I packed up and headed back to the hostel where I fell asleep quite early to 1) avoid the pain of my sunburn and 2) prepare for traveling to Barcelona the next morning.
Barcelona: May 16-19
Oh, Barcelona. I dream of this city now. It captured my heart, largely thanks to the incredible people I met. I stayed in a “social hostel” that organized nightly outings, making it easy to connect with fellow travelers. Every night, we would get a free dinner made by one of the staff members and then go to a bar, followed by a popular club. Not only did I have the people from my hostel, but also the four other locations of the same hostel. All in all, I would have at least a hundred people every night to socialize with and I never felt alone.
I also got to see La Sagrada Familia, a world-famous basĂlica designed by famous architect Antoni GaudĂ that has been under construction since 1882. The tour consisted of the inside and the outside, as well as a trip up to one of the church’s towers where I got to see a beautiful view of the city. This was something that was on the top of my list of sights to see, so I was thrilled that I finally got to experience it.
My last full day here involved renting a moped with a hostel friend to explore the city. My favorite part of this day was driving up the mountains to see the Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, another beautiful church that gives you the most perfect view of the entire city. This was definitely the most action-packed part of my trip, and I definitely am planning on coming back as soon as I can.
Florence: May 20-24
I had been looking forward to this part of the trip the most since my best friend from home was studying abroad at the same time. After almost two weeks of constant new faces, it felt refreshing to reconnect with someone familiar. We met up at a local restaurant and shared a charcuterie board and a bottle (or two) of wine while catching up on where life had taken us the last few weeks. She had to go to class a lot of the days I was there since I was mostly there during the week, so I made friends with a few girls from my hostel and we went sightseeing together.
We explored Florence’s iconic leather market, had the most amazing pizza, relaxed at the hostel’s rooftop pool, and even got to see the Statue of David. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to go to the Piazza del Michelangelo to watch the sunset, where we watched a couple get engaged! I was starting to get a bit run down at this point but I still had a blast getting to see my friend as well as make new ones.
London Pt. 2: May 25-26
In a full-circle moment, I returned to London for my final days before heading home. I only had one full day here and the constant walking combined with lack of sleep was starting to get to me at this point, so I took it pretty easy the evening I got there. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Diet Coke, and was shocked to find on this trip that European countries do not sell Diet Coke, only Coke Zero. So, naturally, my first stop after landing was to grab a bottle before heading to my hostel for an early night.
The next day, I got on the tube again to head over to Camden Town, known for its vibrant Camden Market. Camden Market is made up of 1000s of vendor stalls selling vintage clothing, jewelry, food, and so much more. I spent the day wandering and purchased a few clothing items, as well as having some of the best tacos I have ever had in my life. I finished the day with a pub crawl that the hostel was putting on, although I kept it pretty tame that night since I had a relatively early flight back home the next morning. After going to a few pubs and meeting some really great people, I took one of the iconic red double-decker buses back to my hostel and had a good night’s sleep.
The next morning, I woke up and packed the last of my belongings before making my way to the airport.
Conclusion
I had the time of my life on this trip. Not only did it advance my career, but it changed me as a person in all the best ways. I learned that I am capable of holding my own and now fully believe I can do anything in this life that I want to do, which is a complete 180 from my beliefs before the trip. I met some amazing people, saw the most beautiful sights, ate delicious food, and overall came out a better, more well-rounded person as a result of it. I am so eternally grateful for this experience, and cannot wait until the day I get to explore more of the world.