This could NEVER happen in San Diego

 There is one thing that can happen while living in Paris that could never happen in San Diego and that is the ability to travel to different “worlds” at the drop of a hat.  I had always known that I wanted to study abroad in Europe because of all of the different countries and cultures that are so close together and so easy to travel to.  Skyscanner has become a go to site for traveling and I have already been to Amsterdam and Barcelona while living here in Paris.  In the next couple of weeks I will also be traveling through Italy and then spending some time in London.  Not only are all of the countries so close together, but the travel to and from is so cheap.  We found flights to Barcelona for only 80 euros roundtrip!  And then once you get there, there are hostels everywhere and those are even cheaper!  

It always shocks me when I go to a different country in Europe because I would think that since they all border each other they would somewhat be the same, but they are all so drastically different. The people, architecture, language, food, it’s pretty incredible.  It is really fun to experience new cultures and find new appreciation for home and for Paris.  Every time I go to a different country it makes me want to go to more and living in Paris makes it so easy for traveling to be continuous.  All of the people my age that I have met have already been to so many countries because it is just so easy.  People in Europe also are mostly all trilingual or more.  This is hard to find in San Diego unless it’s English and Spanish.  In San Diego it’s hard to find culture shock anywhere you go, I guess you could fly on Southwest and go to a different state but it not even close to the same thing.  Everyone still speaks the same language and you can get basically the same foods anywhere you go in the United States, especially the fast food restaurants.  I am going to be very sad when I have to leave this perfect travel location, but I know I will find myself back here again one day ready to explore even more countries.