This month, it will have been 8 years since I took my first proper international trip. Even though I went to Sweden when I was 5 with my family, I don’t really count it—I was just a kid! And I barely remember it. But in March 2010, I set off on a Spanish class trip through my high school for Spain.

That trip changed me. It opened my eyes to a whole new world (literally!). By the end of the 10 days, I had well and truly caught the travel bug. I was obsessed with going on another trip—and this time, going where I wanted to go, and doing what I wanted to do.

Our trip to Spain took us to Toledo, where we did a 4-night homestay with a Spanish family. Then on to Cordoba and Granada, before returning to Madrid and taking a daytrip to Segovia.

As we got to the airport to fly home, I knew I had changed. I look back on this first trip as the one that changed it all—that inspired me, that made me realize just how big the world is.

I had caught the travel bug.

Here are some of my reflections on Spain, and what happened next in my traveling adventures.

I hustled hard to go on that trip. I was 17 and knew I wouldn’t go unless I could prove to my parents that I could earn money—that I really wanted to go. So I got a job at a restaurant over the summer, started doing database management for a neighbor’s healthcare organization, encouraged the school to start a fundraiser for the trip, and sold the shit out of some poinsettias for that fundraiser. My parents paid for most of the trip. But I paid for all of my spending money while I was there, and roughly $1000 of the cost of the trip itself (which was about $3000). That was a huge accomplishment for me!

It really put me off group travel. I loved the exploring part of the trip—seeing new places, being a tourist, experiencing a different culture. But group travel is hard, and it’s not for me. I like being independent, and being able to go off and explore on my own. I hated being tied down. And I really didn’t like the structured itineraries that often didn’t include time for things that I wanted to see and do. Of course, this is the entire point of group travel! But I decided after that trip that group travel wasn’t for me. I’d much prefer to go with a friend or two, or on my own. I craved that freedom.

I wanted to go back to Spain and see more. While we visited some of the major hotspots in Spain, the trip left me wanting more. I wanted to go back and see all the places I missed! And so I did just that. On my next trip to Spain, I went to Barcelona for a few days, stopped off to see a statue in Alcala de Henares, and then spent another few days in Sevilla (with a very hungover daytrip to the beach at Cadiz). I haven’t actually been back to any of the places I went on my first trip! But eventually I would love to return and see more of them.

I was really worried about communicating across a language barrier. I knew I would struggle, as I’d had less than 3 years of Spanish before I went. And apart from ordering burritos at Mercado Central, I had never used it in real life before. How would I talk to people? How would I make myself understood? How does it all work? What I learned then, which I still think is true now, is that learning as much of the local language as possible is a good start. Know the words for thank you, excuse me, yes, no, please, and a few others. You can communicate pretty much everything else from gestures and body language.

I was a stupid and annoying 17-year-old. Man, I did a lot of things on that trip that I think are decidedly “un-cool” now. First of all, the trip was skewed towards girls (4 boys and 16 girls I think?), so I spent a lot of time obviously staring at hot Spanish guys and taking pictures of them/with them. Embarrassing. I didn’t know when to shut up a lot of the time (still don’t, to be fair). I complained about stupid things and cared too much about what other people thought. But that was 8 years ago, so luckily I’ve changed quite a bit!

I realized the truly frustrating conundrum of being comfortable vs. looking cute when you’re a woman who travels. Trying to pack for the trip was a nightmare! I wanted to bring all these cute clothes and shoes, my mom tried to convince me otherwise. And this is something that has always been an issue for me, on every trip since then: I want to look cute, but I also want to be comfortable. Most cute shoes and boots aren’t comfy and won’t hold up after 10 hours of walking on cobblestones. Dresses don’t look great paired with running shoes. I have almost always picked being comfortable over looking super cute! But this was something I first realized in Spain, where I looked super cute one day in my new dress and cardigan, but then could barely keep up with the group because my flats hurt my feet so bad. (Read about my 5 clothing essentials here!)

I brought SO much stuff. Oh man. I had a backpack stuffed to the brim, and a large suitcase that was full of stuff. I brought peanut butter and poptarts, in case I didn’t like the food. I brought so many clothes. I brought so much stuff. Yeah, I pretty much travel carry-on only now so that has changed quite a bit!

I kind of felt like the odd one out at times. With a trip of that size (20?), everyone formed their own groups. We all got on really well, but most people (especially people who had been friends before the trip) stuck to their groups and things were clique-y at times. People were paired in twos for our homestay, and that kind of cemented the friend groups. There was of course some drama with that. But overall, I felt like I passed between most of the groups. Two of my good friends at the time went on the trip, so I spent a lot of time with them. But I also drifted from group to group and didn’t necessarily feel like I had a person I had to sit next to on the bus every day. It was sometimes hard feeling like the odd one out here and there, but overall our group was really great so I didn’t necessarily feel that way all the time.

My pictures were truly terrible. I took pictures of the most random/stupid things. And then took no photos of actually interesting things! I have a few really nice photos (most from the Alhambra in Granada), but besides that I did not take good photos. I wish I could go back to all those places with my camera now and photograph the hell out of them!! Also, besides the group shots, I decided not to put on photos of other people on this trip. I wouldn’t feel totally comfortable if someone posted a bunch of photos of me from 8 years ago online!

I was shocked and amazed at how narrow the streets were. I couldn’t believe how small the streets were, and how people still drove down them! As it was my first proper time in Europe, I’d never really seen the narrow, cobblestone streets before. Our group got very good at shouting, “car!” and all of us jumping up onto the sidewalk or sucking it in by a doorway.

I didn’t realize just how popular Coke was. I didn’t grow up drinking Coke (or really any kind of pop, unless we were going out to dinner or it was some sort of occasion). But man, did I drink a LOT of Coke when I was in Spain! That was what our host mom offered us at dinner. It was the easiest thing to order in a restaurant. It was always there in a café. Coca-Cola is a big deal!

I got to be a part of some amazing cultural experiences. I wish I’d cared about them more when I was experiencing them. Our trip to Spain was over Holy Week, or Semana Santa. There were parades nearly every day. I went out around midnight to see some parade for the start of Holy Week (?? I honestly can’t remember!). I saw loads of really unique displays of religion (including all the parades with people in hoods that no, aren’t the KKK!). I really wish I had grasped just how cool that is, and how awesome it can be traveling around Spain over Easter.

In terms of money, I am so glad I’ve never done a trip like that again. $3000 for 10 days?! Are you serious?? I could make that last at least a month in Europe, including roundtrip airfare from the US! My next trip, I spent a little less than $3000 for 3 weeks. My last big trip, I spent less than $3000 for 6 weeks! I’m so glad that I have learned to be a better budget traveler, to travel to budget destinations, to stay in hostels and eat supermarket food for dinner, in order to travel further, and for longer.

I haven’t really written about Spain much on the blog. Why? To be honest, my pictures aren’t good. As I was being led around from place to place, I don’t remember very many specifics—the names of the hotels we stayed in, the places we visited, the restaurants and cafes I ate at. I don’t feel like I can discuss destinations from this trip on my blog at all—mainly because all the information would be so outdated!

When I returned to Spain during my study abroad for a week, I was only in Barcelona for a few days. And I was so magnificently sunburned, that my plans for spending 3 days on the beach were ruined. When I went to Sevilla, I was partying (hard) with my friend and didn’t really feel like I saw or gained a deep understanding of Sevilla’s main tourist attractions. I was drinking too much sangria and tinto de verano! So I’ve chosen not to write about it for the sake of writing about it, and to instead share posts like these, more about memories. Until I eventually get back to Spain, that is!

What’s happened since then? The next summer after my high school graduation, my best friend and I went on a trip to Ireland and England. A trip we planned, we budgeted, we paid for. That was my next sojourn: independent travel. Choosing everything myself. Where to go, what to see, everything—and I loved it. I caught the travel bug in Spain, but I fell in love with traveling and planning my own trips—that’s what sets my soul on fire. You can read about my reflections from that trip here.

After 3 of the most amazing weeks of my life to that date, I came home and started college in the fall. I thought briefly about the idea of a gap year—take a year off, work, save money, travel!—but decided against it in the end. I wanted the new experiences that I knew college would give me. Meeting new people, living in a new place, etc.

In the fall of 2013, I moved to England for a year-long study abroad at the University of Nottingham. Living in Europe, with quite a bit of funds, the travel bug had well and truly taken over. I was obsessed with traveling. I went somewhere else nearly every weekend (and if I wasn’t traveling, I was at home in Nottingham partying and going out). I visited 13 different countries during that year. I traveled solo, and fell in love with it. I traveled solo to countries most people assumed were “dangerous” or “unsafe” for female travelers on their own (Poland, Russia, etc.).

And yep, that was the last time I ever had trips paid for. I received a large gift from a family friend, and my parents had set aside part of my college fund for my study abroad. Since then, I have only ever traveled with my own money.

After that year, my entire perspective shifted. Life was no longer about normal things—school, work, jobs, a car, a house, etc. Life was about the next trip. Life was for saving money and going on adventures. Life was meant to be lived all over the world. Travel was my life.

I had another year of college to finish, and so I struggled through 2 semesters of difficult schoolwork and life in small-town Iowa with no escape besides a trip to Wal-Mart. Every part of me yearned to be on the road again—on another trip, wherever it would be. I looked back on my memories from my study abroad and that year of travel and needed to go again. I spent my days reading Lonely Planet guidebooks like novels, and dreaming of the places I could visit one day.

All of that was made harder by the fact that I was in a long-distance relationship with a boyfriend who was on his year abroad. And I had to watch him travel and explore and have the same life realizations I had on my year abroad. And I had to wish him good luck and safe travels, when all I wanted was to be traveling, and to be with him.

Once I graduated in May 2015, I set my goals immediately on saving money for travel. After I finished my summer internship, I kicked up my juggling multiple jobs into high gear. I started working 50-hour work weeks to save money for travel. I lived with my parents, stopped spending literally any money on non-essentials, never went out, and hoarded every single penny for the next trip.

That September and October, I decided that I was going to take 3 months off in spring and travel around Europe—and I’d throw in a trip to see my best friend in Zambia as well. Adam and I decided we’d get married in Gibraltar, travel as much as we could, and that I’d move to England (permanently) in Fall 2016.

I spent Christmas in England in December 2015, traveling around for 3 weeks and spending time with Adam and his family. When I came back, I continued working as much as I could between my two jobs, and started finalizing plans for my big trip.

March 3^rd 2016 came all too soon, and before I knew it I was taking off! That spring was magical for so many reasons. I got married (!), had an amazing month of travel through Central/Eastern Europe and the Balkans, visited Africa for the first time, and got to spend so much time with Adam. I visited 16 countries in 3 those months. It was a big leap—should I get a real job, start my career, get my own apartment? But I knew that that wasn’t the life I wanted. My adventure in 2016 was my commitment to a life full of travel.

That was also when I started Away With Maja, as a way of sharing my adventures and advice from the road. To inspire you to travel. This blog has been my baby since day one, and it was born of a whirlwind leap of faith.

And in October 2016, I moved to England.

In the last year and a half, I have made travel a part of my life. I live frugally and go away a lot. I spent my first Christmas as a UK resident in Poland and Ukraine. I quit my job and took off for 6 weeks around Eastern Europe last summer. I’ve had amazing long-weekend trips to European destinations. I spent a lot of time exploring my new city, York, and the stunning county of Yorkshire.

Whether I’m going away to an international destination in Europe, or driving for an hour to go check out some abbey ruins, I have made my life fit around my need to travel.

All of this stemmed from the decision to go on a school trip when I was 17.

So if you’re on the fence, book that ticket. You never know what might end up happening.

What was your first travel experience like? How old were you? Did it change your perspective? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!