Entry #2 – Kathryn Gage

I have learned a tremendous amount throughout the month of being in France. I learned how to plan trips and navigate different countries without previous knowledge or experience. I went on three weekend trips throughout my month in France. The cities included Luxembourg Luxembourg, Colmar France, Zurich Switzerland, Stuttgart Germany, Heidelberg Germany, Paris France, and Luzern Switzerland. Navigating and finding plans to do in these four countries was something I had never done before. I had to figure out public transportation, trains to these countries, places to stay, and things to do. I learned what works best for me and how to work with people I had never met before on making travel plans. I feel confident that I could solo travel now and figure out most countries. While being in France and traveling every weekend I also learned how to manage my time with school and traveling. I would try not to study while in the cities or countries I traveled to, but I would use the train rides to these countries to study instead. I made sure I had plenty of time to learn from school and learn from experiences. I learned to go with the flow and that traveling is not perfect. I was almost stranded in Paris because our train was an hour late and we would miss our connecting train. I had to sit back and think logically not emotionally about what I should do. We ended up being able to swap train tickets to a direct train instead of a connecting train. I have learned from this experience that things might go wrong while traveling but there are always solutions and that it will be alright. Studying abroad is one of the best decisions I have made and has developed my traveling skills, personal identity, and international business knowledge.