Hey guys, I’m baaaaack!! Did you miss me? Because I missed you.

No seriously, no one is surprised that there wasn’t a single summer post. To be fair, I did start a post, but writing it almost made me miss my flight back to the States, so it never got finished….and probably never will. In any case, happy to be back in Europe after an insane summer of traveling and seeing friends and family. I knew this summer was going to be busy. I mean, describing my plans to my coworkers at the end of last school year was exhausting enough, but living it?? A whole new level of tired. That being said, I did have the best time and truly, and miraculously, fit in all of the activities I wanted to do and more.

I guess we should start with a brief summer recap…and I mean BRIEF. (Anyone who knows me knows this is truly an impossible task, but I’ll try my best). I visited every region in the continental USA. Yeah, I told you it was a busy summer.

STOP 1

I started with a trip back to Dublin, Ireland. I did my Erasmus there, so I always enjoy returning. Ireland is truly one of my happy places. Being there and seeing my friends rejuvenates me. I just love it. Going back is so funny to me. People always ask what I have planned and my answer remains the same every time. A whole lotta nothing. My main goals are to visit my favorite place in South Dublin, go to my favorite pub, and drink a lot of Guinness. That pretty much exhausts my list. I did, indeed, check everything off. My woman TSwift was there the same time as me, and to my surprise, and yours, I’m sure, she did not find me on the streets of Dublin to give me Eras Tour tickets….I know, I know. I was distraught too. Alas life goes on. It was such a great start to my insane summer.

STOP 2

When I was booking my flights back to the States, knowing I was going to be making the pit stop in Dublin, most of the flight options included a layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. So, as I do, why not make the stopover a tad longer and spend 24 hours exploring a new city?? Which is exactly what I did. Reykjavik has been on my list for ages, so I loved getting to wander around, even if it was just for a short time. I did a little self-guided walking tour, treated myself to a nice dinner, and wandered around the shops on the first night. Since it was June, it was light out almost the whole time I was there, which leant itself very well to a short exploration window. At my dinner, I got some reindeer to try, which was delish. The chef recommended rare, so who am I to argue?? It was indeed very rare, but that’s not something that’s every bothered me.

Day two in Reykjavik I got up early and treated myself (again) to a few hours at Blue Lagoon. If you don’t know, Blue Lagoon is a natural hot springs, heated by a local volcano. We had to be briefed on what to do if there was an eruption during our visit…Luckily, that excitement missed me on my short trip. One of the best parts about Reykjavik is how accessible it is for this style of trip. They are trying to encourage more tourism, so they have tons of easily accessible shuttles to and from the airport to various sights, including Blue Lagoon. I hopped the shuttle after my time in the hot springs and went right to the airport to begin the USA leg of my trip.

STOP 3

Back in the USA, babyyy. As much as I long living in Europe, I do enjoy my short trips back to the States. My first stop was Boston, MA. I hadn’t been in years, so it was one of my bucket list places to return to on this trip home. And I made it happen! It was so fun getting to explore the city, and of course, had to take a visit to Harvard and MIT, while I was there. I love how much history is there, in addition to fun things to do. I had the best time exploring the local eateries and trying to beat the Europe to USA jetlag.

STOP 4

While this first week of travel was the best, by this point I was very tired and ready to be back home. Going back to Kansas City is always a highlight. It is so up-and-coming right now and somewhere I am so proud to be from. I always love getting to come home to friends and family and visit all of my favorite local restaurants and cafes. It was truly the best week. But I was not home for long.

STOP 4.5

Calling this a half stop because it was kind of a long layover before going for my next trip. I flew to Indianapolis to meet up with my college friends before heading on our summer road trip. I did get to visit one of my favorite Mexican places, while I was there though, so I felt the need to include it in the recap. I mean, how could I leave out such delicious refried beans and margaritas??

STOP 5

Once we all gathered in Indy, me and my college friends set off on our long roadtrip to the beaches in South Carolina. My family and I visit every year, so I was ecstatic to show my friends around. After about 12 hours in the car, which our friendship survived, might I add, we made it to SC. We loved getting to have lots of much needed beach time. I’m not the biggest fan of swimming in the ocean in my old age, so I relaxed on the sand and read my book, while my friends spent most of their time in the water. We also got to visit some of my favorite restaurants and drinks places in the area. I always love taking people there. It is truly one of my favorite places and being there with some of my favorite people makes it all the more special.

STOP 6

After about five days of beach time, we were ready for a change of pace, and what better place to do that than Nashville??? After another long drive, we were ready for a night out. Nashville is always a fun time and this trip was no different. We all committed to our outfits and were looking obnoxiously touristy with our jorts and cowboy boots. But honestly, how else are you supposed to dress for a night out on Broadway? We had the best time dancing to country music and wandering around all of the Broadway craziness. I can’t say we did much exploring of the city, but we did watch Hannah Berner’s comedy special on Netflix and it was a hit! Definitely would recommend.

STOP 7

Instead of driving back to Indy with my friends, I caught an early flight to get to Phoenix to visit one of my dearest high school friends. She surprised me with the cutest welcome basket filled with wine, books, and snacks. It’s like she’s known me for 10 years or something?? We had the best time catching up and I got to spend some much needed time reading by the pool. I’ve never been to Arizona in the summer, so beating the heat was very much an integral part of the trip, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined. My friend also took me to one of her favorite bars that had dueling pianos. They take requests from the audience and can play almost anything. It was so impressive and so fun to take in. As always, it was so fun to see her and get to pal around her city.

STOP 8

Much like Bella Swan, I travelled from Phoenix to the PNW for the next stop. Kind of a random stop to visit a friend from abroad in Spokane, but it ended up being a fun enough trip. I got to visit a bunch of local eateries, bookstores, breweries, coffee shops and vintage stores, so that itself, made it worth the trip. I also took a nice run around Gonzaga’s campus, which is beautiful. I love the PNW, so it was fun getting to go back and explore a new area.

STOP 9

Moving right along…. Writing this is almost as exhausting as living it. And we still have like 4 stops left. Anyways… My next stop was to Colorado for our annual family trip. We usually go to South Carolina to visit the extended family, but we chose Colorado this year to throw in a birthday celebration for my brother to the trip. I went on a total of zero hikes during my time there, which was the exact number I wanted to go on. To me, the trip was a smashing success!! For real though, we went rafting (which I could have passed on) and horseback riding through Rocky Mountain National Park. My horse’s name was Swagger. I mean…..come on. We were basically soulmates, imo. The horseback riding was definitely my highlight. It was a last minute addition, but so so worth it. We also had the opportunity to do the first of my two Fantasy Football drafts. Still a little early for my taste, but while the whole fam was together, we had to take advantage. I’m not the happiest with my team, but we shall see how the season goes! That being said, my brother’s birthday party was also a wonderful time. It is always such a fun time when our whole family gets together, and trust me, we know how to celebrate!

STOP 9.5

After Colorado, I drove back to KC with my parents for a 12 hour stopover. Again, I felt that I must include it because I indulged in my last Chipotle for six months. It had to be mentioned. I also did all of my packing to go back to Europe during this short time. I severely overpacked and did indeed have to check two bags. I’ll learn one day.

STOP 10

After yet another early morning flight (which I swear to myself I’ll never do again and then proceed to book 5am flights…), I arrived in my last stop in the USA: New York City!! I always love getting to come back to NYC and this was the first time I was able to come and not do touristy things. Those are fun for sure, but I just wanted to bounce between bookstores and coffee shops and not do much else. Which is precisely what I got up to. I think I visited four or five local coffeeshops in various parts of the city, as well as three or four local bookstores. Truly my ideal trip.

STOP 10.5

Back to Europe!! Another half stop in Brussels (one of my favs) for a waffle, fries, and a cappuccino before the main event!!!!

STOP 11

The main event being Lille, France for THE OLYMPICS!!! I’ve had Olympics tickets for a year and a half now and I cannot believe how quick it snuck up on me (and how quick it went by). My awesome aunt and I were staying in Lille and commuting to Paris almost daily for our events. Thankfully, she broke it up with two days just in Lille to see the local events that were happening there. My family loves going to the Olympics, but apparently, these were the best batch of tickets yet. I must say, it was pretty awesome. We were there for six days and saw ten events: swimming, beach volleyball, regular volleyball, two days of athletics, men’s basketball, women’s handball, gymnastics diving, and cycling. Some of these were sports I had never really watched before, but being in the Olympic environment made everything that much more exciting. Seeing legends like Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, and the star-studded USA men’s basketball team was pretty mind blowing. I mean, I witnessed the iconic floor routine that earned Simone a silver medal…so so cool. We truly lucked out with our events too. Since you enter a lottery for Olympics tickets, your seats and teams you see are kind of a surprise. We got to see the home team, France, numerous times, as well as the USA and Australia, which was so awesome. I will definitely make going back to the games a priority — it was truly the best week!

After spending seven hours in the Brussels airport, I finally made it back home! What a summer!! It was such a great time, and while it was busy, I made so many awesome memories with friends and family that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Now to rest and reset before going back to work tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

B

P.S. I was writing this while watching NFL preseason!! It’s almost the best time of the year, folks!!