This week I was fortunate enough to be visited by two very good friends from GW who have been having their own European adventures, but wanted to spend the weekend in Paris with me. It was probably the beautiful city and fantastic sites that inspired the visit, but I like to take some credit. I greeted Jo Jo from Florence and Haley from Copenhagen with open arms and pastries, and I spent the next few days with them as a tourist in my own city.
It's a bizarre experience to lead tours through your daily commute, and try to summarize the best of your life in a few days. I wish I could say that I was able to plan a whirl-wind weekend with non-stop culture, fun, and food, and that I flawlessly and gracefully sashayed through my city. Thankfully my friends were excellent sports as I got us a bit lost, waffled about which sites we should take in, and almost never knew where was a good spot to eat or where to find an ATM. I had a chance to visit some of the more touristy spots in the city I hadn't yet seen, and gained a new-found appreciation for how dense and winding Paris is. The moment I felt I had begun to get a handle on the city, I realized I couldn't find a creperie to save our lives (or stomachs). It's a humbling experience to show off your city to those who know when you're sure of yourself and when you're bluffing, and I can only hope that their days of museums, chocolate, walking, and instagram were enjoyable. However, even more interesting than seeing Paris with fresh eyes was comparing cultural experiences and drawing parallels between Europe and DC.
We shared stories about our best awkward, funny, embarrassing, and difficult study abroad moments, and shared endless stories about being awkward Americans abroad. It's an uncomfortable feeling to travel all over a continent with only one or two languages at your disposal and a Rick Steves to show you the cultural ropes. I am convinced that there is a circle of hell reserved for study abroad students who run around asking for wifi, disrupt metro commuter traffic, speak too loudly in restaurants, and take photos at the most inappropriate of times. However, we had an amazing time and hosting them in my own city has only inspired me to visit Denmark and Italy one day. I appreciate the people and experiences in certain cities more than the tourist sites themselves, and will always find a personally-guided tour preferable.
It's a bit sad to realize that this spirit of adventure is confined to my study abroad experience. Though there's something cost-efficient and romantic about traveling through an entire continent on train, I realize how little time I've spent traveling in the United States since coming to school. As a Midwesterner I have spent very little time in major East Coast cities; I've been to Boston and New York once in my life, and I've never set foot in Baltimore beyond BWI. I really have no excuse for traveling to little. I have friends who live in all of these cities, I perfectly speak the language and use the currency, and major cities in the United States have just as much culture and excitement to offer as those in Europe. While I don't have the same sense of urgency to cram as much culture and life experience as possible into a short period of time, I should be more willing to adventure in my own backyard. Travel is good for the spirit and broadens the mind, no matter what kitschy key chains you have to show for it.