Arianna O'Dell

Last week I just got back from a trip to Europe. This was my fourth trip to Europe over the last few years. Each time I have returned, I am met with the same response from friends and family.

“You’re so lucky.”

“I wish I could do that!

“I could never afford to do that..”

There is nothing that makes me sadder than hearing phrases like this. Anyone can travel. There are no excuses on why you can’t get your passport, hop a plane, and have the experience of a lifetime.

What are the excuses I’ve heard that cause people to never leave the country?

I don’t have the money for a flight.

Yes you do. For the past four years, between college and living expenses I have lived off around poverty level. (That said – I’ve managed to live great!) I had all the money I needed to put a roof over my head, eat well, and take amazing trips. Travel is not as expensive as you would think. I have not bought a plane ticket to Europe (round trip) for over $800 ever. This last trip, I found a ticket to London for only $432 dollars. There are so many great deals out there – you just have to look a bit harder. And to get you started, here’s a post for you on how to find these tickets.

I don’t have a passport.

Okay, go get one. For $140 dollars you can have your very own. This little book was the best purchase of my life. If you break down the cost over 12 years it costs you about 0.038 cents per day. For less than a penny a day, you can have 10 years of freedom to move about the world. For a college student or someone working paycheck to paycheck $140 is a lot of money – I completely understand. Once you take you’re first international trip – you’ll see it was worth it.

I don’t have anyone to go with.

The first time I had planned to leave the country, I had a friend planning to go with me. As the trip got closer, I never heard back from her. Silence. Since I had already bought my ticket, I decided… “who cares?! I’m going to go anyways.”Guess what? It was scary as hell. Prior to that trip I had never been to the airport by myself, I had never been on a plane by myself, and I didn’t know anyone in the whole country I was about to enter. It gets easier. Yes, it’s scary at first – but after about a day you feel comfortable, you loosen up, and you have the time of your life. There are tons of resources available for those traveling abroad. From finding new friends on Twitter, to Couchsufing – you don’t have to go the trip alone.

I can’t take time off from work.

If you have a job that doesn’t let you take even a week off during a year – you’re at the wrong job. With only a week, you can easily take a trip abroad.

I have nowhere to stay.

For anyone on a budget or traveling alone – hostel are a great options. From hostels, I’ve managed to keep my expenses low and make some amazing friends. I personally recommend HostelBookers for finding some great deals in amazing locations. If you’re even braver, CouchSufing is another option. CouchSufing is a global community of people willing to give travelers a spare bed or couch. In the past, I have hosted travelers and been hosted while in foreign countries. This site has given me some great friends and many once in a lifetime experiences.

I’ll travel when I’m older.

If you get hit by a bus tomorrow and die, traveling dead is going to be really tricky. Life is SHORT. You have no idea how many days you have left on this planet. If you want to travel – find a way to do it. There is no telling what your tomorrow may bring.

Women can’t travel alone.

Yes they can. The news is great at telling scary stories. For this reason, I worry my mom every-time I go abroad. (Whoever it was that told her to watch the movie, Taken, please let me know so I can punch you) If you watch your surroundings and stay smart – you’ll be fine. In all the international trips I’ve taken (while travelling alone) the worst that has happened was I got rude cat calls. You just brush it off.. and if that doesn’t work… the F word and the finger is pretty universally understood.

In the future, I plan to do as much traveling as I can. There are so many beautiful, wonderful places out there. You just have to hop a plane to see them. If you have any reasons on why you can’t travel, let me know in the comments and I’ll help you figure out how you can.

Oh yeah, and let’s be friends on Twitter?

Moving to a new city is the easiest thing in the world.

PSYCH!

Moving to a new city is hard. New friends, new customs, new scenery, new everything.

This past month, I left Seattle and am currently living in León, Spain. This is my first extended stay in a non – English speaking country. So far it’s been amazing, frustrating, fun, lonely, and emotionally draining all at the same time.

Moving is always hard. Goodbyes are tough. Tears are shed. Then you’re gone..

The next day you hop a plane, pop some sleeping pills, and find yourself in a entirely new place. You know no one.  You don’t know how the city works. You get lost. You question your judgement for picking up and leaving your comfortable life.

But then it all gets better.

During my first few weeks in Spain, I was incredibly homesick. I longed to be with my friends at a pub on Friday night. I missed my fatty American sized coffees. I missed having entrepreneurship events to attend.

After having a pity party for a few days I realized “I can do that all here!”

“I can make friends.” – I just have to try a bit harder.

“I can go to entre events.” – I just have to find them.

“I can have 20oz coffees here” – I just need to order 4 coffees instead of 1

I just have to be proactive about it.

Making friends :

No one likes to be alone. No matter how tough you are, at the end of the day, everyone needs a friend. Making friends isn’t always easy. Personalities don’t always align. Not everyone will get your jokes. If you are sitting alone in a room, chances are people aren’t going to come up to you and say “Hi, I could use a new friend! Let’s be BFF forever!” YOU have to make an effort. YOU have to start conversations. YOU have to put yourself out of your comfort zone. This isn’t easy. Hell, it’s extremely hard to go up to random strangers and start a conversation. As hard as this is, I’ve been forcing myself to do it. Result :

I met some awesome people already!

Adjusting to cultural norms :

They say adjusting looks something like this :

From siestas to eating dinner at 10pm at night, Spain is very different than the United States. I’m a city girl at heart and the jump to a small town has been the biggest adjustment for me. Everything is slower than what I’m used to. If you know me, you know I talk a million miles a minute and drink coffee instead of sleeping. Leon has been different. I sleep at night here. I’m not stressed. THIS was the biggest adjustment for me. I love being stressed – as crazy as that sounds. I love being busy. I love having too many events to go to. I love not sleeping. (Okay, that last one is a lie.)

Fortunately enough, through Twitter, I found a lot of people who have eased the adjustment. From giving me music recommendations, to telling me about social media events – the Internet is a freaking amazing tool to find people and events of interest. Gracias amigos!

Language barrier :

I’ll come right out and say it – my Spanish isn’t very good. Though I’ve taken Spanish classes in school, my speaking ability has a long way to go. I feel embarrassed when I talk. I get frustrated. I don’t know what things mean. It took me 10 minutes today to try and figure out how to explain that I don’t like spicy food. (Picante – for future reference.) With anything in life, practice makes perfect. Over my next two months here, I will continue to practice and learn more each day.

Though the pace of life is different than Seattle, I’ve slowly gotten myself accustomed to the city. I’ve joined a gym, I’ve found a good coffee shop, and am finally getting accustomed to living here. It only gets easier from here.

Thank you to everyone that’s helped me out since I’ve been here. You are the best!