Flying Fantasies

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I am a language major. I take writing classes for my minor and psychology for my other major, but for this post, I am a language major. I want to go to Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, China, Mexico, and more. I’ve always wanted to travel, around the country, around the globe, but never had. I’ve only be legally allowed to for two years and one month. No more hesitation, no more listening to my family’s worries and my nervous heart’s concerns. I will leave this country before graduation.

My biggest worries were: lack of knowledge in foreign cultures (and languages) and money. I can speak French, no where near as good as a native, but, enough to survive. After speaking with members of the Japanese Student Association, I'm also relieved to know I can get by with key phrases (in the big cities). Travel, on the other hand, is expensive (passports, air fare, taxis, food, hotels, luggage), and I don’t have much money. The money I do earn goes to the school, and I have to fight myself to spend any on myself. I’m so grateful for what I have, but the constant stress of student loans and unpaid bills make it very hard to sleep at night.

So, I asked myself the question “if money wasn’t an obstacle, would I leave?” Yes. I say yes firmly because more than anything I’ve wanted to travel. I’ve denied my childhood and teenage wish for too long. I came to Coe for a great education, a challenging curriculum, and small class sizes, but mostly for the study abroad program that I listed as my requirements when choosing colleges. Other colleges simply don't do enough (in my opinion) to help their students go abroad. I know, most students don't want to go abroad, but I'm clearly not one of them. John Chaimov was my FYS professor and my first adviser for goodness sake! How can I pretend I’ll ever be happy if I don’t get on a plane and plant my feet thousands of miles away from my home?

With this series, we’ll work through the process of using resources available here at Coe to explore the world and finally make our fantasies reality. Starting with the bare requirements to leave this country: legal identification and passports.

I'll be posting weekly to keep up my motivation. If you or someone you know have traveled leave a comment down below and share your story!

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Table of Contents

Resident of Where?

Passport Fiasco