Funny thing how life works, six weeks ago I would have never used the word “spontaneous” to describe myself. Quite the opposite actually. I would’ve told you I like schedules, I like to be organized, I like to know what’s coming next. Six weeks ago I had no idea how life in Italy would change me. A little life update: here I am sitting in a cafe in Rome at the exact time my flight home takes off – and I’m not on it.
Spontaneity is a funny thing too because I don’t think you choose to be it. Something happens, somewhere along the way where you just realize life is too damn short to miss out on it. I have learned more about myself in the last 42 days than I have in my entire 20 years of existing. I spent six whole weeks surrounded by the best people I have ever met. Ones who supported me, encouraged me and trusted in all I could be. They brought out my spontaneity and believed in me sometimes more than I even believed in myself. I got bit by the travel bug, hard, and when I was presented with an opportunity, I just couldn’t turn it down.
During our time here we used a student travel company, Bus2alps, to book our weekend trips. As the unofficial “tour guide” and navigator of our group, it was very tough to try and plan weekend travel on our own for 19 people so this business was really special for us. Everything was so easy and organized, we could completely enjoy our time without worrying about the details. Everything was already figured out once you book, transportation, accommodation, activities and the best part was that a guide was sent with you. We felt so comfortable knowing we had an expert traveling too to show us around, give recommendations and look out for us. There are lots of options to travel Europe for weekends, day trips and even longer periods of time. The trips are affordable, well planned, the guides are absolutely fantastic and quickly became close friends. I loved observing them while we were traveling, it seemed like a job I could see myself doing. Looking into the company further I found they had sales and guide intern positions available throughout the year. Immediately I fell in love with the idea of coming back to Rome next summer to work for the company. Never in a million years would I have imagined my current situation.
After showing interest in ways to get involved, kind referrals and conversations led to being offered staying for July. All in a single day I accepted the offer and changed my flight back to the U.S. Definitely the most spontaneous thing I’ve done and I couldn’t feel more grateful to be joining the team. Bus2alps is Europe’s number one tour operator for student travel, no matter where you are studying in Europe you can book through them. Learning from my coworkers while seeing the world seems like something of a dream. I couldn’t have had a better study abroad experience and I’m so looking forward to helping other students make the most of theirs as well.
Check out Bus2alps at their website as well as on Facebook and Instagram. If you or any of your friends are studying abroad to anywhere in Europe I’d love to help you travel and even save you some money when you book with my discount code: SIENNA
As always, updates from life abroad can be found on my Instagram at sincerelysiennablog!
Ciao!
Sincerely, Sienna
