This morning we left Tower A to head to the airport and make our way to Germany! While I have traveled abroad before, I have never gone on a trip with this many people or with anyone other than family. From the bus ride, to getting our bags checked, and making our way through security and to the gate, I was very impressed with our ability to stay together without any issues!

With lots of time to spare, we waited at the gate to board our connecting flight to Newark at 12:30pm. We played card games, walked around the airport to get some steps in, and continued to get to know one another. The first flight flew by, and before I knew it we were getting off the plane and settling in to wait for our long flight to Munich!

With about 2.5 hours to spare before boarding around 4:10pm, we walked around the Newark airport to find something to eat. Chloe and I ended up finding an Asian fast-food restaurant which surprisingly was really good! I sat next to Jordyn on the flight, and immediately tried to train my brain to pretend it was 6 hours ahead to be on Germany time. My goal for the flight was to try and sleep as much as possible after having not slept much in Towers. I ate dinner on the plane, watched a little bit of Moana, and then closed my eyes for majority of the flight once it got dark out. Although I wasn’t able to sleep, I got to see the sun rise which was so beautiful!

I’m really looking forward to the cultural visits like the hike and views at Neuschwanstein Castle as well as the tour of Dachau. I’m also very excited to experience Germany with the other students and explore Augsburg together. Although not much of the travel experience was new for me, I know traveling without my parents and family will push me to adapt to a new environment and learn more about the ins and outs of traveling abroad.