France: Arriving in Antibes

Throughout my junior year of college, I had several friends do semester-long study abroad programs and got to hear about their amazing experiences. I have always loved travel, but seeing it through my friends' photos and experiences really got me interested. I realized that there was no better time than while I was in school to do a long trip overseas, because once I started working in the real world, how much time off would I really have (and not to mention money)? I knew I didn't have the money to do an entire semester, and honestly I didn't want to miss out on a whole semester of my senior year of college. So when I heard about this summer program in the French Riviera that my business school was offering, I attended an interest meeting and immediately knew I needed to apply.

Over winter break I discussed it with my dad, and he basically told me that he was willing to make it happen but that I would be paying for it in student loans later. I knew I would have student loans to pay when I graduated anyway, and I figured what's a few thousand more dollars in the whole grand scheme of things? Having an opportunity to travel with a group of peers for an entire month and explore places I had always wanted to see was not something I could put a dollar amount on. I knew the experience would be worth far more than the extra debt I would carry after school. I decided that this trip was worth it. And let me tell you - it totally was.



We flew out from DC just a week after spring semester ended. Here I am at the airport! Please note that this is only what I was carrying on the plane. I had already checked a very, very large bag of luggage. I wish I was a light packer, but alas, I am not.

An 8-hour flight later, and we arrived in France!

We arrived in Nice and took a shuttle to Antibes, where we would stay for the month. We dropped our luggage off, got acquainted with our place, and explored our whereabouts. Walking around that little coastal French city was so fun. I kept thinking, "I'm really here! I'm really in France!" It was surreal to say the least. We stopped at the Intermarche to pick up some groceries. Everything is smaller in Europe, and the supermarket was no exception. I fell in love instantly with the idea of walking everywhere. It just felt right. Like that's how we are supposed to live.

Our first dinner out was at a little cafe right around the corner from our apartment. (Again, being able to walk everywhere - I loved it). I ordered pizza. I would later find out that there was delicious pizza waiting for me all along the Mediterranean! I WAS IN HEAVEN. Pizza is pretty much my favorite food, and if I could eat it every day and not increase my dress size, I would. This pizza was fresh and fantastically delicious. Of course it was paired with some rich French wine!

I will say that going on this trip put me way outside of my comfort zone. I love traveling, but at this point in my life had never really done a trip longer than 2 weeks. I also was jumping into a group of people I did not know at all. I think we had a couple meetings before the trip, but other than that I didn't know anyone very well, and it was a little scary. I clicked really well with my 2 roommates from the beginning, which helped a lot. And slowly over that month, I got closer with them and some of the other girls. So other than this trip being an exhilarating travel experience, it stretched me in more ways than I expected. My time in France taught me how to interact with people with whom I have no history and little in common. I learned how to travel with those people, and make plans of what we would do and where we would go. These are life skills I will carry with me always, and this goes back to my point of this trip giving me SO much more than the money I spent.

Not to mention I was in the FRENCH RIVIERA. Gosh, I want to go back!

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In case you missed it:

France: Part 1