Choosing anywhere to travel in the world isn’t the easiest thing to do; especially when you are very young. Back when I was twelve the idea of flying in a plane was terrifying to me, so when I was asked where I would like to travel my response was, “I think Wisconsin would be fun.” I remember feeling embarrassed when my parents laughed at me for my answer. Looking back I really don’t blame them; I mean why Wisconsin out of all the places on Earth? Well the year before; my family and I took road trip there and I thought it was one of the best things ever. Of course over time I broadened my options and thought Hawaii would be a fun place to travel. At that point my ultimate goal was to go somewhere warm and tropical; thats when my parents thought Spain would be an ideal place for me to go. My two brothers also got to choose a place to travel a couple years before me. One went to France and the other, Italy. So after finally choosing Spain I let my uncle know; he’s the one that would be taking me, and he started planning the trip. I would have to wait around 2 more years until it was my turn to go.

June 10th, 2016. The day finally came. I had taken my exams early and would be missing the final 3 days of school. My mom picked me up early and took me home to finish packing; then it was off to my uncle's house where I would be dropped off and then heading to the airport.

“Are you nervous?” My mom asked.
“Yeah, but more excited than nervous.” I replied

I had no idea what to expect. I had never been in a airport so this was my first time experiencing all of the chaos. After getting through security, which for some reason I was nervous for, all that was left was to wait to board the plane. Despite being very nervous in the past years to fly, I actually felt calm. Waiting for the plane to arrive didn't take as long as I thought it would, which was nice because I didn't have to keep thinking about what could possibly happen, and make myself nervous again.

The only word I can use to describe that flight was boring. Eight hours of sitting in one spot thousands of feet in the air isn't very enjoyable. I know that flying can be seen as fast, safe and comfortable to a lot of people, but I did not feel that way. Every five minutes I would check to see how much longer it was until we would land. The only nice part was the view, I remember looking out the window and seeing the sun slowly set.  After that long plane ride we were only in London. I really can't remember anything about that airport. All I knew was that I was exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was carry around my suitcase that weighed a ton. It felt as if I hadn't slept in years. We got on the next plane to Spain and I'm pretty sure I slept most of that flight. Right when we got to Spain I was surprised at how easy it was to tell that you were in a completely different country. The air seemed different; I don't know how but it just did. Navigating the airport was the most interesting part. I thought my two years of Spanish would make things a little easier but boy was I wrong. My uncle took Spanish for many years back in college so we would have been lost without him. He easily rented a car lead us to the parking spot. He’s definitely a true Einstein. Then we were off to our hotel 2 hours away. After being on a plane for several hours sitting in a car was the last thing I wanted to do. The hotel we stayed in wasn't all that great, but I didn't come all the way to Spain just to have a nice hotel to spend a few hours in. As soon as we got there I sprawled out on my bed and took a quick nap.

Something I was really looking forward to doing when I got here was to just experience the culture and see how different things were from back home. As uncomfortable as I was ordering food in a different language, I'm very glad I got to do something out of my comfort zone like that. One thing I couldn't manage to do was try completely different types of food, which looking back, I wish I did. The only “out of the ordinary” food I had was pig's cheeks. I just get kept telling myself “Come on, you can do it, just try something new,” and somehow I finally persuaded myself to eat it. It wasn’t all that great but not the worst thing I've tasted. I know that I would have regretted not trying it. In Spain, they also didn’t seem to completely obey the drinking law. You must be 18 or older to consume any beverage of alcohol. Me being only 15 was able to go wine tasting and was offered a whole glass during our lunch, of course I said no because if my parents found out they wouldn't be very happy. We also watched Flamenco dancing which I really didn't think I would like but it was actually quite amazing. Those people have so much energy and talent,  I don't know how they do it. There were many things we did such as going to different shows, going into cave, visiting mosques, ruins and palaces and much more. One of my favorite things we did was driving through the mountains. We were going up the steep winding roads until we reached the top where there was the most breath taking view I had ever seen. I just wanted to stand there for hours, breathe in the fresh air and just clear my mind. The salty air from the coast bellow blowing the giant pine trees, causing them to sway back and forth, was allowing me to become relaxed. I never wanted to leave, but we still had to get to our next destination on the Mediterranean Sea. We drove through endless fields where thousands of sunflowers were dancing in the wind. I don't regret choosing this place to travel at all. People shouldn't let their fears control what they do and the experiences they have and I'm glad I did not.

On our last day we had a flight back to London where we spent the remainder of trip. After spending an hour trying to navigate the subway system we finally arrived in the center of the city. We walked out of the subway and right in front of us was The Big Ben clock tower. We went on the London Eye where we could look with astonishment as far as the eye can see; it was stunning. After taking an obsessive amount of pictures we we off to dinner. Although we only got to spend one night in London it was still one of my favorite things that we did.

At the beginning of this trip I had been feeling a bit homesick and by the end I really didn't want to leave, but unfortunately I didn't have a choice. When I got back I was happy to see my family again and especially happy to see my cats. I also really wanted to see my friends again since I had been gone for two weeks, but two days after I got home my family and I were going up north for 2 months. This trip to Spain was definitely the most interesting/ life changing thing that's ever happened to me and I'm glad I got to have the experience. I don’t think I could ever thank my Uncle enough for paying for this whole trip, planning everything and taking me.