Amidst this crazy busy overseas move and trying to find a suitable house in Cambridge, Ryan and I have found time to make a European Bucket List for the 3 years we'll be spending here. This of course prompted me to start the travel blog I've been mentally picturing for quite some time now, so I'm excited to finally start sharing my perspective as we travel both well-known and more unknown places!
Before I dive in to documenting, I wanted to tell you a bit about how I want to format my travel blog. There's a prevalent argument that social media - especially in the realm of travel - only shows a person's highlight reel, therefore it's not real (see what I did there). I agree most people show the highlights, but that doesn't mean what they see, what they captured, and what they felt in that moment, isn't real. I will always post aesthetic photos that appeal to the eye because I think it's important to showcase a place's most redeeming qualities; every town, city, and country has something that's uniquely beautiful about it, even the most unassuming places. When others showcased the attractive aspects of a location, it actually helped motivated me leave my comfort zone, see & experience that part of the world for myself, and offer my perspective on that place. That's what I hope to inspire others to do.
With that being said...
Travel is not always pretty. We forget that when we only look at photos. This blog is to close that gap between what you see versus what really went down in the process. So, In every travel blog post, I will include some "Behind the Scenes" (that's what I'm going to call it until I come up with a less-lame name) bullet points on the not-so-pretty, hilarious, frustrating, disappointing or tiring parts of the journey. This is to have a realistic expectation on travel, because a lot of it is stressful: getting lost, extra costs you weren't planning on, getting caught in a sea of annoying tourists, feeling sick after a bad, over-priced meal, arguing with your spouse or travel partner etc.
But travel is never not worth it. Even if I had a bad time somewhere for whatever reason, I experienced that place and learned something in the process. So to Ryan and I, travel is never a waste of money.
*Each post will also include a bucket list item that we checked off during that trip!
I hope this blog offers an attractive but real perspective on traveling Europe and beyond, and inspires you to get out there and create in your own way. Stay tuned, lads!
Xx