I’m about to leave home for a year and who decides to have a 20 hour layover in Istanbul….me of course. Let’s just say I was so excited until about a week before my flight. I freaked myself tf out. How will I find my hostel? Are hostels safe? How will I communicate? How will I learn Turkish? Why is it so difficult? Do I look too American? What, when, how, who, etc..

The plane lands and I hop on the metro to head into Taksim Square Istanbul. BEAUTIFUL. That’s all I can think about when I remember that city. Lights everywhere, music everywhere, and let’s not forget the beautiful people.. I mean really.

I walk to my hostel and by the way, google maps decided to take me through back roads and in peoples back yards to get to this place, but I made it! I stayed at the Neverland Hostel. It has a cute vibe with an adorable bar/café area. Warning, lighting and air conditioning does not exist here. Therefore I slept with the window open all night.

I woke up the next morning extra early so I can explore some more before heading to the airport. I met this guy selling bread on the steet who spoke English. He gave me all these suggestions on where to go for a last minute sight seeing session. Also got some free simit 😉

I got on the plane and started heading towards Paris. God, I remember tearing up on the plane, so excited to have the feeling of a new city all over again. Lille… here I come…

This is a very 2am, last minute decision but hey.. I’m here! My name is Sam and I am going on the biggest adventures of my life so far. I’m 19 years old I decided to study abroad for a year in Lille, France at Sciences Po Lille. Ever since my first French class in the 10th grade, this was all I could talk about. France this, France that, traveling here, traveling there,… you get the point. Fast forward to now, it’s almost 3 am and I’m in my cute little house in Lille and I’m living my best life. I wanted to make a blog so I can talk about my experiences, good and bad, and be able to share them with my friends and family. I also think it will be super cool to look back at this later in life.

The next few posts will be of past trips and adventures but also about my everyday life here. For example, I have to get my wisdom teeth out! Fun! Who would have thought that the international insurance I was all butt hurt about would actually come in handy!! 😐

So, if you made it all the way down here, thanks for sticking around. Let’s see how this goes!