This week's "Guest Nomad" Heather D'Amico in Vienna, Austria.
This week's "Guest Nomad" Heather D'Amico in Vienna, Austria.
This week’s “Guest Nomad” is Heather D’Amico. Heather recently graduated from Otterbein College last June majoring in public relations and minoring in journalism and speech communication. Heather plans to move to New York City from Ohio in January to further her public relations career. She is a Twitter addict, loves all music, writes for various blogs and news publications and is a dedicated traveler.
In December 2008, I traveled to Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary for three weeks for a class I was taking. It was my first time out of the country and the longest I had ever been away from home. Luckily for me, I fell in love with Europe and never wanted to leave. The sights, sounds, smells and people – I loved all of it and wanted to be a part of it forever. Unfortunately, I had to go back to school in the States and graduate. I knew I had to go back and see more of Europe as soon as I could.
One night in February, I was lying in my bed asking myself, “If I could do anything after graduation, what would it be?” The first thing that popped into my mind was to go backpacking through Europe. From that moment on, my mind was made up. I was going to backpack through Europe the summer after graduation.
After graduating from Otterbein College in June 2009 my friend Kim and I left Columbus, Ohio for the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France on July 1st. For two months, we traveled to 25 cities and 10 countries around Europe.
Good times in Pamploma, Spain.
Although I loved every single second, there were three specific experiences I will never forget. The first one being Running with the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. I only have one word: insanity. I was there for the first four days of the ten day festival and it was like nothing I had ever seen.
Thousands of people filled the streets celebrating, singing and dousing anyone in sight with wine, sangria and champagne. The goal was to drink all day, all night and be able to stay awake for the Bull Run at 8 a.m. the next morning. I was able to do it, but barely. It was one of the most fun, exciting times of my life.
The streets of Amsterdam.
The streets of Amsterdam.
The second experience I will never forget was my time spent in Amsterdam. Now, I know what you are probably all thinking, “I know why Amsterdam was one of her favorite places.” In all honesty, you don’t even have to smoke the ganja to enjoy your time in Amsterdam. The streets are filled with the most diverse people you will ever see in the world and the vibe of the city is undeniably exhilarating. Walking through the Red Light District, going into my first coffee shop and meeting all of the wonderful people that I did was an eye-opening but fascinating experience.
Leeds Music Festival
Leeds Music Festival
My third greatest experience in Europe was attending the Leeds Music Festival in England. As a huge music lover and a major Kings of Leon fan this was a dream come true because KOL was headlining the festival. I had never been to a music festival before, so I had no idea what to expect. Kim and I and our London friends we went with all slept in a tent together and couldn’t shower for the whole three days we were there.
Although I felt horrifically disgusting, it didn’t seem to matter because I saw some amazing bands, like Manchester Orchestra, Radiohead and the Kaiser Chiefs. On the last day, I stood in the rain in a crowd of 90,000 people for six hours to wait for Kings of Leon to come on stage. Those brutal six hours paid off in the end because I got to enjoy Kings of Leon from the fourth row. That was by far, one of the coolest moments of my life.
Going on an adventure like this was life changing. The people I met from all around the world, the beautiful sights I saw and all of the experiences I had (good and bad) gave me a whole new perspective on life and who I am as a person. Europe is an amazing place with so much history and culture. I urge anyone and everyone to buy a backpack, a flight to Europe and go experience everything Europe has to offer.
