Katie Bernard is a student at the University of Mississippi. She is an ISA Featured Photo Blogger and studied abroad with ISA in Dublin, Ireland.
If you are anything like me, the word ‘spontaneity’ is not in your vocabulary. Before my program began in Dublin, Ireland, any choice I made- especially when it came to big things like traveling- was preceded by hours and hours of thinking and planning on whether or not I should do it. It was a part of my personality- I liked to be fully prepared. I know that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it ultimately stopped me from doing a lot of really cool things.
All of this changed one night while I was sitting in my new best friend’s kitchen. Our program gave us one free weekend to do whatever or travel wherever we wanted. My original plan was to play it safe and just stay in my dorm and take day trips into the city to maybe shop or do some touristy things. I was definitely not going to travel to other places in Ireland, and was absolutely not going to go to a different country… or so I thought.
A group of our other friends had booked a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland in the United Kingdom and were trying to talk us into joining them, but my friend and I were both very skeptical on going. There was not enough time to plan or get prepared, and it just seemed like a huge jump.
That night, my friend and I were hanging out and talking about how incredible our program was and how much we loved the opportunity of studying abroad. We were discussing how great it is to travel and how we wanted to see more places, and we mentioned that we both had Scotland on our travel list. In that moment, we decided to go to Edinburgh with our friends and booked our trip, all within 30 minutes! No planning, no thinking, we just did it!
I can honestly say that I knew I made the right decision as soon as I stepped off the plane in the United Kingdom. Walking around and exploring Edinburgh was one of the top highlights of my trip! It made me realize that life is way too short to not take every opportunity you have to see the world, and sometimes it is okay not to have a plan.
The whole trip was truly a life changing experience! The views from the castle were magical- my pictures do not come close to doing them justice. The city and the people were fantastic and I think everyone should have Edinburgh on their travel bucket list. It is already back on mine! Not only do I recommend traveling to Scotland, but I also recommend that everyone finds their inner spontaneity too!
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