Day Trip: Geneva Switzerland

Monday, April 24, 2017

Okay, it's time to make another confession, and naturally it has to do about traveling. I'm probably at the point of addiction when it comes to traveling. With the end of the program coming to a close, my desire to take in as much of Europe (I sound so American right now I know), has been my number one priority. As spring break came closer, I had no idea what I would be doing for the first week of my travels.

So, late at night (as usual) I looked at a map of France and the train routes and looked at potential destinations. Now if you're a travel geek like me, you probably know of the app 'Been'. It's a tracker letting you know how much of the world you've seen. I looked at the list of European countries to see if it was feasible to add another country onto the list with a couple hours notice. Apparently it was, because three hours later I found myself on a train headed towards Geneva Switzerland.

Camera in hand, I decided to go on my first solo journey to a new country. Sure, I had done day trips to Paris alone, but there was always someone to meet at the end of the destination. For the first time I found myself not having to worry about what others wanted to do, see, or eat. All I needed to know was how to return back for the train at the end of the night. I took my passport and camera in hand and left France for the day in hopes of finding something new.

I'll be honest and tell you that I didn't really know much about Geneva. Sure I know that they had awesome chocolate, watches, and were known to be notoriously expensive for everything. What I wasn't prepared for was the tourist sights, the currency (which apparently was not Euros, but Swiss Francs), or the impeccable scenery.

Traveling alone felt liberating and also scary. For the first time, in what seemed like a lifetime, I decided to just wake up and go. My fashionista self decided to wear leggings in public and walking shoes so that I could take in as much of the views as possible during my day in Switzerland. I'll admit that I times I wished I was with others. I love being social, eating and drinking, and visiting new places with people. Being an assistant in France, has definitely helped me become an even bigger social butterfly than before. But there can be negatives of always being surrounded by other people. For example, hobbies such as photography and writing have been at times pushed aside because I have filed my life with other priorities. Now I'm not saying that its bad that my priorities have changed; that's life. But, I don't want to having any regrets either of my time here.

So I did something out of my character. It was calming being able to snap pictures again and be in an element that I hadn't in a while. I even decided at the end of my day to treat myself to a makeover at a shopping mall in Geneva. I'm fortunate enough to have the opportunity to live in the South of France, and it's time to "profite" as much as possible until the end.

Until next time,