What is your favorite part about studying abroad?

Leah Blankespoor
Nov 27, 2016
10 min read

I am absolutely dreading this question when I return home for the holidays. It is almost as cringe worthy as "Is he the one?" or "What do you plan on doing after college?" Now the first question, I have an obvious answer to. The second one is easily able to talk my way out of. But how do I sum up 3 and a half months of travels, growth, and experiences? The one thing that embodies the best parts of my time here are one common thing: the people.

Traveling with people and seeing what has been on their life's bucket list is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. Being with Mackenzie while she experienced Paris, Kaitlin on her life long dream holiday in Iceland, Kayla and Taylor experiencing the ocean for the first time in their lives, visiting Lydia in Wales where we could catch up and I could hear all about her experiences, visiting a place that means so much to Faith and I at Bunschoten Spakenburg where we completely geeked out and got to reminisce our Tulip court days, and my personal dream destination of Castle Rozendaal. I got to be along for Lucas' first experience in Europe which was such an amazing and bonding experience for both us. Getting the opportunity to make memories together while over here was out of this world. Instead of being on different pages when I return to the states, we will share experiences together that we can tell our kids and grandkids about some day. I also go to experience traveling with my in-laws. I am not like the typical rom-com or chick flick. I love my in-laws, they already feel like a second set of parents. So this was absolutely amazing for me. Even on the travel day where we were stuck on a train and in the pouring rain for a whole day. Collaborating with my wedding photographer was the coolest experience ever and so unique. I've known her from my sister's wedding, a photo shoot I modeled for, and now we share the experience of taking engagement photos in Europe. I just love making relationships with people and sharing amazing experiences and living in the moment with them.

There were also the people that played a small part in my journey. Though, like Mr. Van Perusem always said in high school theater "There are no small roles, only small actors" courtesy of Stanivlavski.

The people along the way:

Dutch man on the plane to Greece-This man eased my anxiety for my trip to Europe ever. He told me about the Netherlands, how he knew the last name Rozendaal and how some were even Royal Dutch painters for the royal family. Just talking to him eased my anxiety.

Italian friends in Greece- In Greece we met Fabio and Federico. They helped translate between English to Greek so that we weren't completely scammed from every restaurant, tourism group, and all of the locals. They also knew exactly where we needed to go for the best food and sunsets. We felt much safer having them around.

Car rental woman in Reyjkjavik, Iceland- This woman was extremely afraid for our well being I am pretty certain. She offered us an amazing price for an automatic car rental (which is a miracle in itself). Yet she didn't stop there. She threw in a personal wifi hotspot FOR FREE so that we wouldn't get lost and would be up to date on the Icelandic weather. She was definitely a guardian angel. Especially when we didn't even know how to drive the car out of the parking lot.

Grandma offering a ride to rugby match- Kaitlin and I ventured to the small town of Topsham to see a friend referee a rugby match. It was rainy weather, we didn't feel very good, but we were determined to support our friend. At the rugby field, there was no one to be seen. A kind grandmother saw how lost we looked, as she was experiencing the same problem. She offered us a ride to check out the other field. Low and behold, we found it with her help. She was such a blessing in her bright purple windbreaker and neon pink lipstick with goat cheese and toilet paper in the backseat. I love grandmas, they have such a universal love for all children that resemble their own grandkids.

Woman giving me 50p when I was short on money- The day I missed my flight, I was 50p short for my bus ticket. Naturally I started crying, and a kind young woman gave me the money I was needing to pay my fare.

Professional contemporary and ballet dancer at Les Miserables at the Apollo Theater in London- I went to Les Mis alone in London and met a professional dancer. He was the perfect companion to gush over the show with.

Nancy the tour guide in Paris- Nancy taught us that we could get into any museum for free with our student visas, gave us an amazing tour of Paris, helped us plan out the rest of our day, let us use her wifi from her phone, and also gave us recommendations for crepes. She was amazing.

Young man I met in Utrecht that I had an in depth religious conversation with- At the hostel I stayed at in Utrecht I met a young man named Andrew from the states who I conversed with. I was emotionally and physically drained and it was exactly what I needed. I saw on his computer screen he was looking up Bible passages, and quickly we figured out that we both are passionate about traveling and the gospel. This was exactly the fire I needed to keep trekking forward in my trip.

Man on Arthur's seat encouraging young love- a university student who we met in Scotland opened up to us that he was newly married. He encouraged getting married at whatever age, even if others look down on you for being young. This was a very much needed verbal hug that I was lacking from other interactions about my love life.

Peter Rudolph in Brussels- Mackenzie and I met a professional Willy Wonka. He makes the best chocolate ever. Like I could literally say the whole world. The forest fruit in his chocolate bars are hand picked from the Swiss alps, he personally engineered the chocolate boxes to avoid papercuts and appeal to women even more, and he offered us amazing personal deals. He even brought us to his favorite restaraunt in Brussels where he treated us to creme brulee, answered all of our life/business questions, and offered his store body guards for us who all had backgrounds in the military if we didn't feel safe at night exploring. Seriously an unforgettable encounter.

Royal Delft painter in the Netherlands- In Amsterdam I wanted to see some hand painted delft. Well, we unknowingly befriended a certified Royal Delft painter who let us tour her workshop and the facility for free, and also answered all of our questions. She even showed us her workshop. It was the thing of dreams and what I still cannot believe to this day happened. It was something I never could have dreamt or planned.

Shannon in Volendam and Marken- On a solo trip to small towns of the Netherlands (actually two villages that I have authentic costumes of that I have worn for Tulip Time in previous years), I ran into an extremely kind midwestern woman. She kind of scared me for a hot second because we looked quite alike. We had the same hair, basically the same coat/pants/shoes, and were from the midwest. She is from Minneapolis, and has my dream job, an incentive event/trip planner. She was so insightful and kind to keep me company on this excursion and answered all of my life questions and queries going into my last year of college before going into the working world.

Kind airbnb host in Rozendaal- Our host in Rozendaal had fresh flowers in our bedroom, allowed us to use his personal bikes to bike around the town and to the castle, and even made me breakfast in the morning. He sang while making my cappuccino and was the kindest soul with the sweetest daughters.

Loraine in Edinburgh and then meeting up in Iceland- Loraine just clicked with Kaitlin and I in Scotland. It could have been that she was American, or just super cool and chill. Well, we adore her. It turned out that we were going to be in the same location the next weekend by chance(Iceland), and so we got to experience that with her as well. Soaking in the experience of the Blue Lagoon (quite literally) and having someone else to verbally process a long distance relationship was truly a God send.

Though I may never meet these people again, they have made a large impact and stamp on my time abroad. I regret that I cannot personally thank each one of them, but I am so very grateful for the Lord providing exactly what I needed at exactly the correct time.

The people with me along for the journey have been a huge part and will not be forgotten.

I do need to acknowledge all of the dogs who provided warm snuggles and sloppy wet kisses along the way as well.

Kaitlin, Taylor, Elise, Ronnie, Hamish, Fiona, Hunter, Gabe, Kel, Sydney, Ted, and Bailey. I cant thank you enough for giving me a home. Literally the phrase "she doesn't go here" so applies because I was always hanging out at your guys' flat. Thank you for the surprise bachelorette party, the endless laughs, and Australian culture info sessions. Seriously people, they planned me a surprise bachelorette party which is a terrific feat because I am a controlling/ocd event planner who multiple times tried to plan my own bachelorette party while over here.

I am what you would call a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). Being this way is draining, rewarding, frustrating, and definitely not easy. Ever since I was little, I have always felt emotions deeper than normal. This is great because when I am happy I am extremely happy. Yet, when I am sad or upset, I am extremely sad or upset. This also applies to relationships and hardships. If someone else is going through something or upset with me, I find it very difficult and almost physically painful. Through this experience I have learned how to deal with these personal attributes and give it to God even more. A good friend and I had a conversation over some British cheesy chips about "come what may." Come what may, flood of emotions and all, God has my back. Meeting all of these amazing people, seeing all of these beautiful things, experiencing all of these emotions takes a toll on my emotions, body and soul. I know that going home will hit me hard. Happy to be back with friends and family, missing every day adventure, heart broken to not be with my new friends. Honestly the journey ahead of me might be more difficult to acclimate to than the culture shock of Europe.

So I urge you, when approaching a world traveler or meeting them for coffee, please do a couple of things as the holidays draw near:

1. Be ready for realness/authenticity

There may be tears, and there may not. Depending on the day, we might want to dig deep and we may not. We might give you a surface answer, or we might give you nitty gritty details, like how long we went without showering (please don't judge any of these details). This could also depend on where and when you approach us.

2. Please specify what you would like to hear specifically

Do you want to hear about my friends abroad? The places I visited? The hardships I encountered? The culture shock? The best experience I had? The worst experience I had? If you can be as specific as possible, it helps us answer your questions that much better and gives us somewhere to springboard off of. Honestly, I barely even know where to start without a specific topic.

3. Ask us about a trip/experience you remember seeing/hearing about

It makes us feel missed/loved if you followed our travels abroad. Even if you didn't reach out to us while we were gone. It always feels good to be remembered, so ask us things like "I saw that picture of you with those green windmills in the Netherlands, what was your favorite part about that village?" or "I'm so sorry about all of the traveling issues you had. I read your blog, any advice for my next journey?"

4. Ask us questions. Simple as that.

We LOVE talking about our adventures/travels/advice. We feel awkward bringing it up because we don't want to come off as bragging/being a know it all. So don't be shy to ask us anything. Honestly anything. Like what kind of camera we used, where our favorite travel spots were, advice on accomodation, things to avoid in certain areas, ways to save money while traveling, etc. We want to help you have a good experience. That is what is cool about travelers. We want the best for each others, and love to help you learn all the tips and tricks.

5. Don't ask us what we bought for you as a souvenir

Even if you are kidding, this stresses us out. Traveling is expensive in itself, let alone buying souvenirs for everyone. They are also hard to transport back home. Please don't guilt trip us or make us feel bad if we couldn't get something for you. One of my top love languages is gifts so this one hits me very hard if people are disappointed that I didn't bring anything home for them. I had to cap it off to basically just family for gifts because of the financial burden, stress, and physical burden of bringing things from home. Even if we didn't buy you something, it doesn't mean we weren't reminded of you in different ways. We definitely still thought about you and wished we could have brought something back for you.

6. Don't expect us to be the same person

Our world has been rocked a bit and we might be a bit different. If all we can talk about is how good the fish and chips were compared to what is available back home, how much we miss our friends we met, or how we miss perpetually traveling please don't feel offended or get angry. We might have different food tastes, different senses of humor, different tastes in fashion, different outlooks on life than before. Please don't be dismayed by this, we are the same person. "Don't be afraid of change. You may lose something, but you may gain something even better." This is so true. If we seem different, don't cut us out of your life, we may surprise you. We most likely will be an even better version of ourself.

Just like they teach us event planners in school: You are who you know, not what you know.

Cheers to you all.

xoxo,

Leah Joy