[Photos date back to 2006-2007 before fancy smart phone cameras so don’t judge the quality! 🙂 ]
Mom: If you miss your flight, it’s on you. I’m not coming back to get you so you’ll have to figure it out.
Me: *insert scary face emoji*
Okay…love you…bye!
*grabs bag out of trunk and high tails it to the Lufthansa Airlines ticket counter*
—
We laugh about that conversation in present day. Though back then I was scared straight! (Yup…just like the tv show!) Moms was not here for the games and neither was my upcoming flight time!
It was December 2006 and I was headed to Greece for short term study abroad. Our class spent 3 weeks traveling throughout Greece as we learned about ancient Greek history. It had been my dream to travel there since middle school and here I was about to miss the flight! Well good news, I made it in just enough time. My classmates were seated comfortably on the plane while I gave it my all to catch my breath after darting through the LAX international terminal.
Traveling throughout Greece was awesome! I’m forever indebted to my professor for all he taught me about ancient Greece, traveling and…well…life. Apparently he, like my airport-drop-off-tough-love mom, majored in Cutthroat Studies at Hard Knocks University because when we got to the hotel after about 12 hours of travel (layover included) he made an announcement. More like a declaration the way I recall it: “Go upstairs, put your bag down and freshen up because we’re going to dinner. DO NOT take a nap. I repeat…DO NOT TAKE A NAP! You need to get acclimated to this time zone”.
At the time I thought he was absolutely nuts! Though as I’ve traveled more since that trip 13 years ago, I’ve realized that it is great travel advice. Practicing his tip (or declaration from the mountain top) will prevent one from being up at 3am in a foreign country strategizing how to ease a growling stomach because most food options (at least the convenient ones) will be closed for another few hours. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m tired upon arrival I’ll just knock out against Dr. H’s advice and deal with the consequences later. Though I try hard to stay awake and keep busy until bedtime in efforts to adjust to a different time zone.
Okay, now back to Greece…
I felt like it had traveled back in time and it was awesome! There were still very modern parts of the country (especially in Athens) but the course topics definitely threw it back! There are so many highlights from that trip but I’ll share just a few:
- Learning more about international currency and using it for the first time (currency of Greece: Euro)
- Trying gelato (This is before it got popular in the U.S. I never had anything like it!)
- Discovering the popular fashion retailers Mango, Zara and H&M (again…pre-U.S. establishment days)
- Seeing the Parthenon in real life
- Sitting in an ancient Greek theater
What a blessing to not only have that experience but also to reflect upon such awesome memories years later. Do you have any questions about my experience in Greece? I’ll do my best to remember! Lol. And spoiler alert, our trip itinerary didn’t include the Greek islands (i.e. the famous Santorini) so I wouldn’t be able to answer questions about those locations specifically. They’re on my list! We did visit Crete so you can ask away about that one!
Also, let me know if you’ve been to Greece. I’d love to hear about your experience. If you haven’t been but it’s on your bucket list, feel free to share about that as well!
