Taking a look back

I know a lot of blogs that are advice in the moment and that is awesome, but it does not leave you time to really look back and reflect on what you did the people you met and what you learned from it all. I recently read a pretty awesome book about a 20 year old traveler called "A Year Without Make Up", she helped me get the courage to start a blog made me realize that hey I have done some pretty cool, not so smart stuff maybe people could learn from....soooo here I am in bed reflecting before watching walking dead.
I guess I will start at turning 20, whooo finally not a teenager anymore! It is junior year in college and I am living with all my best girlfriends on the same floor! What could possibly be better all your friends in one place. Finally taking the classes I wanted and working with the seals (yea when I said nerd I wasn't joking I was knee deep in sea life whenever I could...) going out on the weekends and planning for my trip to Australia for the second semester!
Yes AUSTRALIA!! it has only been my dream since I was a five year old! I was planning what school to go to what classes my university would accept and where else I would go while I was there. I was going all by myself and was so excited! Everyone kept asking me why are you going alone won't you be nervous or scared that you won't know anyone and will be so far away? Well truth was I was a little nervous BUT it was my life long dream and something to cross off the bucket list!  So I am planning away busy busy busy talking to one of my best friends Michelle who just got back from a summer trip over there about where to go and what to see. As I am blabbering about it at the Marine Animal Rehabilitation center I volunteer I find out that two of the girls I work with are also going and are going to the same school planning to study the same thing, AWESOME, now it's me and the Stephs traveling to Australia and come up with the idea to add a week in Fiji at the end! AWESOME, even though I wanted to be the brave person and meet all new people and rely solely on myself to make it halfway around the world somewhere I knew no one I was relieved and excited that I would get to spend it with some girls from my college that I only knew through working with the seals. So we started to plan all of our adventures together.
Reflecting on this time I was probably overly obnoxious talking about the trip to all my friends, but I mean how could you NOT be crazy excited researching every second of your spare time the places to go and see. Also I probably should of thought about the cost more....budgeted a little bit more...saved a little bit more....because now student loans are a BITCH and I ran out of money once I got to Fiji...thank god for amazing parents who believe in your dream, but more on that later lets get to the leaving part the realization I will be gone for 6 whole months...

BEST place in Portland Maine to get fresh lobster! (totally forget what the place is called, but its like a shack on a dock and you get a cool lobster buzzer to tell you when your lobstah' is ready, p.s. its next to the boat restaurant, having a total mind fart on the names)

Proof I really did seal rehab ;) me and a little seal pup summer before Junior year in college