studentsineurope

Latest, Best, Worst and Next: Lizelle Jackson

Croatia: More beautiful than I had ever imagined

Latest: Last year when my friends first told me that we were going to be taking a road trip to a villa in the south of France, I had pictured us in a convertible with the wind blowing in our hair. Instead, the four of us packed ourselves like sardines into a tiny blue car that we aptly named “blueberry.”  Although not the ultra-chic convertible I had hoped for, “blueberry” more than made up for it by taking us on several amazing day-trips to Cannes, Nice, and St. Tropez, some of the most fashionable cities on the French Riviera.

Best: Hands down, it would have to be the backpacking trip around Europe I took by myself. I had moved to Switzerland to play volleyball, but when I arrived things didn’t go as planned. After a month in the country I ended up switching teams, a move the apparently caused problems with my visa, as I was basically told I needed to leave the country for a month. Those of you familiar with the whole Roman Polanski debacle, know that the Swiss police are not to be messed with, so there was no way I was going to take the risk. Deciding it would be too expensive to return to the US, I bought a Eurail Global Pass and hopped on a train and set out to visit a friend in Croatia. Other than the trip to Croatia, I had no specific destinations in mind, but once I got comfortable traveling alone, I ended up on a whirlwind adventure that took me to Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, and Holland. A situation that started out as a nightmare ended up being one of the best experiences of my life.

Worst: Never had a bad trip, but have had a couple bad experiences while abroad. I had my camera stolen while at the Széchenyi Baths in Budapest. Or the one time I spent Christmas night in a hostel in Copenhagen: a dormitory of 20 people that smelled even worse than a Saturday morning at the Pike Place Fish Market. Oh yeah, and I suppose I was pretty upset when I got robbed in Switzerland with 300 dollars in my wallet!

Next: Well, considering I’m currently living in Switzerland, everyday is like taking a new and exciting trip. However, I’m headed to Morocco at Christmas for some excellent food and warmer weather, and hopefully a trip to Istanbul sometime in the spring.