It wasn’t so long ago that I was young and taciturn 16-year-old. Quiet as a mouse and a bit lacking in the confidence department, I found it difficult to do typical, social things – for a long time, I was a bit of a house barnacle. You know that person who you’d call on the landline to ask to hang out, but they’d always make some kind of excuse? Like how they’re definitely busy helping their parents with the food shop, or that they still haven’t finished the chemistry homework due tomorrow? That was me.
In reality, I spent most of my time alone in my bedroom. Growing up a part of Gen Z, computers, the internet and the people using it were a big part of my life, and I had a sweet setup that fuelled my love for gaming (thanks, Dad). When at school, I dreamed of returning to my desk to pick up from where I’d left off, my online adventures vastly more interesting than whatever my teachers had in store for me.
Unfortunately, it ended up supplementing an in-person social life, perhaps to my detriment.
I found it hard to make eye contact, to relate with my peers, and to have a conversation without anxiety. The internet mas my chosen antidote, it giving me a safe space to talk and make friends – a place where I felt more in control. If I wasn’t at the computer, I most definitely had my nose in some book about a great adventure. I was a goody two-shoes who never got in trouble, but whenever I landed myself in detention, it was always the book’s fault, I promise! My life was someplace else. I lived vicariously through these fantastical characters and spoke daily with people thousands of miles away.
But sometimes your comfort zone isn’t what you need. Eventually I got upset with how my life was going. I grew up a country bumpkin in small-town Wales – definitely not the most exciting place to be! I realised that I wanted my life to be like the stories I read about every day, and I wanted to meet my friends from all these different countries I’d learned about. But for many this is easier said than done. How could I make it work?
For me, the catalyst was the European Union. I applied for a competition called DiscoverEU that awards the winners an interrail ticket. Its goal is to help European 18-year-olds discover themselves and the continent through the medium of travel. Because of this opportunity, I went from someone who had never boarded a train alone before to a traveller fearlessly frolicking across Europe. Alone!
I don’t mean to perpetuate the cliché―oh, travelling to Paris changed my life and I’m so woke now―but I’d be lying if I said it isn’t true. Travel transformed me. So much so that I decided to write this blog post about it, and as a serial procrastinator, that alone should emphasise how much of an impact it’s had on me.
It’s like that technique where you’re thrown into the deep end when you’re being taught to swim. While I explored Europe, I could feel my confidence growing at frankly breakneck speeds. My voice quickly stopped shaking when I spoke to someone new, I could now call over wait staff without my heart doing flips and I began to see the world for how it truly is – a place to be explored, not feared.
What can I say? I became addicted.
After I finished my trip, I went to Cyprus for a few months as a volunteer for the European Solidarity Corps, another EU project. This time I learned how to live alone. How to curate a space of my own, and function in a foreign society not as a tourist, but as a local. Words cannot describe how much you learn. Not just about yourself, but about the world and its many vibrant cultures.
After I went back to the UK, I was invited to attend an event about Erasmus+ in Brussels. At the end, I was so confused by what I heard. There was so much judgement! So many assertions that the EU pouring money into giving young people holidays (God forbid – we all deserve a break!) is a frivolous expense. Won’t they just waste the opportunity? Get drunk in Budapest and high in Amsterdam?
I want to prove these naysayers wrong. Here I am, broadcasting my thoughts to the world – I would have been way too meek to even entertain the idea of having a blog just 4 years ago. I want to destigmatise travel because I know from experience that these opportunities have the potential to completely revolutionise the younger generations. It’s not just an indulgence, something we do to get away from our lives and responsibilities. It can improve both personal and professional prospects. It can increase worldwide solidarity, something we are in desperate need of. Best of all, it produces open-minded individuals who go on to make the world we live in a better place.
We are extremely privileged to live in a part of the world that recognises the power of travel. So, as a final message: I encourage you to apply for that working holiday visa, I implore you to go on that student exchange. If an opportunity presents itself, take it. You never know where it’ll lead.
