Travel Log: European Adventures!

Hello, hello, hello, everyone!

        I hope you all had wonderful holidays and very happy new year! Well, I’ve decided to start off the year with nothing really special. That’s right! You heard from the one and only Legally Brunette, 2017 is starting off with a nothing-really-special blog post. A few months ago, right around the beginning of September on my Note to Self: Back to School post, I promised you that I would eventually post about my vague European travels over the summer. Well, that eventually is turning into right about now! Yes, over the summer, I visited Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris. I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful all three cities were. They had so much history, and defining characteristics, none followed the standard definition of “beauty.”My vacation was certainly one that falls under the “trip of a lifetime category.”

        I feel so lucky that I was able to have this experience. Travel and exploration of the world is privilege. One that, unfortunately, is often taken for granted. I think that sometimes we trap ourselves in a bubble. Within our homes, cities or countries, even. Whether those bubbles be filled with the same religious beliefs, political beliefs, race or gender, we thrive off  of our natural cliquish Neanderthal instincts.

        I live in house, with a roof over my head, food on my kitchen table, fresh water running from my tap, and heat blowing from my radiators. My basic needs are filled. I am fortunate enough, not only to have those basic needs filled, but to be able to explore, and learn and grow through travel. Traveling the world, and gaining new perspectives is vital. In the United States, those impoverished are hidden the shadows to ensure that kids and families like mine can maintain peace within our bubbles. So we don’t think outside of our bubbles. So we don’t understand outside of our bubbles. In the U.S.and many other developed parts of the world, it’s utterly inconceivable that a girl wouldn’t be educated because of her gender. But for the rest of the world? The rest of the 60 million uneducated girls? It isn’t inconceivable, it’s just a fact.

        Poverty is something I admittedly have been very blind to. I only saw three cities while I was there, but just those three cities alone revealed the throbbing crisis of poverty, just itching to be noticed.  In Europe, several times, I saw a mother sprawled out on a blanket, holding her child, feeding them the scraps of food they had collected over night behind a dumpster.You don’t need to travel across an ocean to find new perspectives. Walk around your neighborhood, your town, your country! You can’t buy perspectives. They come into your life for a reason. Just trust that they will be found when they’re meant to be found. Again, I can’t even begin to tell you how lucky I was to be able to explore Europe for the first time, and I can’t wait to travel again! Below are a few (Who are we kidding? There are like 70+!) photographs from my trip. Be sure to comment below telling about some of your past and/or prospective future travels, what you think of this blog post, and what actions you’ll take to gain new perspectives from all around the world. Keep on traveling, and keep on popping the bubble!

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~The Legally Brunette