I haven’t sat in a classroom or opened up a textbook or even written anything (besides my blog) more than my signature on receipts since January. I can’t remember a SINGLE thing about math or science or history that I learned in high school, but I feel smarter now than I ever have in my life.
This journey opened up my eyes to the world and I have had the most life changing 5 months I could’ve possibly had.
What really changed my perspective on everything was Ghana. From the moment I arrived in the country, I felt different. I felt like I could finally make a difference in the world, no matter how small. Living and working in a small village in Africa is truly an eye opening experience. I learned to live with no running water, no type of plumbing whatsoever, little to no electricity, no grocery stores, no television or computer, no oven, stove, microwave, sink or toilet, no modern anything really, and it was very refreshing. The most modern appliance we had was a 10 year old refrigerator.
To some people that probably sounds like hell, but its really quite an experience.
I got to make a difference in peoples’ lives and that’s what really matters to me. Even my small donation of new colorful plastic chairs to the daycare center I worked at lit up all of the kids’ faces for over a week.
It’s an amazing feeling being able to make somebody so happy for something that seems so small to you.
Before I continue I’d like to add a little blurb about my host mom in Ghana. Her name is Dina (pronounced Dye-na) and she is one of the most amazing women on this planet. She is so incredibly friendly and always wants to help out with anything as much as she can. She has one adopted daughter named Spendy who is 6 but was only adopted about a year ago. Before Dina adopted her, Spendy was an orphan living in the streets. Dina has given her a loving and caring home and a bright future. Dina wants to adopt another daughter named Dola who lives in the orphanage near the village I lived in. Dola is 4 and the orphanage she lives at has absolutely terrible living conditions. It’s further described in the link I’m providing.
Dina’s dream is to build and run her very own orphanage and take good care of the kids who otherwise cannot be taken care of. The only problem is, she doesn’t have enough money to accomplish her dream.
One of my housemates in Ghana has started a fundraising page to raise money for Dina so she can build her orphanage and give many homeless children a loving and caring home. The goal amount is about $3,500 which is over 10,000 cedis (Ghanian currency). Even one dollar is worth a lot in Ghana, so if you can donate anything, really any amount, big or small, is greatly appreciated.
Here’s the link to donate: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/7lMG8?psid=9ffbf61c4381438685d07a23bb391381&fb_ref=share__c3MKLc
My 2 months spent in Paris weren’t exactly life changing, but they were definitely a lot of fun. Paris is just a great city overall, especially for an American girl who happens to be completely fluent in French.
Greece was absolutely the best time of my life. I have never had so much fun in my life as I did in my 2 weeks spent in Greece. I know I’ve said this 100 times already but I’ll keep saying it until I go back next summer!
It’s an absolutely beautiful country and everybody that I met there was amazing and just made my trip way better than it already was. In Greece I would say the greatest thing I learned was that I can push my physical limits a lot farther than I thought. Never in my life did I think I could stay out all night and sleep for 3 hours and repeat that for 10 days straight, but I did.
Italy was also very pretty, but my favorite city was Florence. It might be because I also met some really great people at my hostel there, but I just really liked the city in general. It was small enough to be able to walk around for hours and never be too far from where you started, but big enough that you can spend a couple days exploring it. My favorite thing about Italy though was definitely the food. It was sooo delicious. I will never forget it.
Switzerland was absolutely beautiful. I could argue that it’s more beautiful than Greece, but they’re both so different you can’t even compare. The reason I went to Switzerland was to see mountains. I live in one of the flattest cities in America in the flattest region in America so the scenery gets pretty damn boring. Getting to ride a cable car to the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps was a pretty cool experience.
Amsterdam was a lot of fun and a really nice city overall. It’s modern but still has an older feel to it, and the people are all very friendly.
Barcelona was a pretty costly last minute trip but it was well worth it. It’s a beautiful city and it has really great vibes. The people I met there were some of my favorite people I’ve met on my whole trip, and even though most of them live in Australia, I’m hoping to see them again one day.
I already have travel plans for the whole upcoming year and can’t wait to experience them. I’m moving to San Fransisco on August 26th where I’ll be attending the Academy of Art University and majoring in product design.
In either December or January, I’ll be going on a 10-day trip to Israel and next summer I’ll be returning to Greece and if I can save up enough money, I’m going to go to Australia after that.
I’ve been home for 5 days now, and it is nice, but I would honestly do anything to leave right now and go back to Europe for the rest of the summer. It was such a fantastic experience overall and I wish that everybody on earth had the opportunity to travel like I did.
Thank you all so much for supporting me by reading my blog. I’ve had over 2,200 individual people look at it! I had a great time sharing my journey with all of you and I truly hope you enjoyed what I had to say. I will probably keep up with the blog just not as often as the last few months, but I will definitely restart on my future travels.
Thank you all, and until my next adventure.
Sophie
Below I’ll share some of my favorite photos and moments from my travels.
This journey opened up my eyes to the world and I have had the most life changing 5 months I could’ve possibly had.
What really changed my perspective on everything was Ghana. From the moment I arrived in the country, I felt different. I felt like I could finally make a difference in the world, no matter how small. Living and working in a small village in Africa is truly an eye opening experience. I learned to live with no running water, no type of plumbing whatsoever, little to no electricity, no grocery stores, no television or computer, no oven, stove, microwave, sink or toilet, no modern anything really, and it was very refreshing. The most modern appliance we had was a 10 year old refrigerator.
To some people that probably sounds like hell, but its really quite an experience.
I got to make a difference in peoples’ lives and that’s what really matters to me. Even my small donation of new colorful plastic chairs to the daycare center I worked at lit up all of the kids’ faces for over a week.
It’s an amazing feeling being able to make somebody so happy for something that seems so small to you.
Before I continue I’d like to add a little blurb about my host mom in Ghana. Her name is Dina (pronounced Dye-na) and she is one of the most amazing women on this planet. She is so incredibly friendly and always wants to help out with anything as much as she can. She has one adopted daughter named Spendy who is 6 but was only adopted about a year ago. Before Dina adopted her, Spendy was an orphan living in the streets. Dina has given her a loving and caring home and a bright future. Dina wants to adopt another daughter named Dola who lives in the orphanage near the village I lived in. Dola is 4 and the orphanage she lives at has absolutely terrible living conditions. It’s further described in the link I’m providing.
Dina’s dream is to build and run her very own orphanage and take good care of the kids who otherwise cannot be taken care of. The only problem is, she doesn’t have enough money to accomplish her dream.
One of my housemates in Ghana has started a fundraising page to raise money for Dina so she can build her orphanage and give many homeless children a loving and caring home. The goal amount is about $3,500 which is over 10,000 cedis (Ghanian currency). Even one dollar is worth a lot in Ghana, so if you can donate anything, really any amount, big or small, is greatly appreciated.
Here’s the link to donate: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/7lMG8?psid=9ffbf61c4381438685d07a23bb391381&fb_ref=share__c3MKLc
My 2 months spent in Paris weren’t exactly life changing, but they were definitely a lot of fun. Paris is just a great city overall, especially for an American girl who happens to be completely fluent in French.
Greece was absolutely the best time of my life. I have never had so much fun in my life as I did in my 2 weeks spent in Greece. I know I’ve said this 100 times already but I’ll keep saying it until I go back next summer!
It’s an absolutely beautiful country and everybody that I met there was amazing and just made my trip way better than it already was. In Greece I would say the greatest thing I learned was that I can push my physical limits a lot farther than I thought. Never in my life did I think I could stay out all night and sleep for 3 hours and repeat that for 10 days straight, but I did.
Italy was also very pretty, but my favorite city was Florence. It might be because I also met some really great people at my hostel there, but I just really liked the city in general. It was small enough to be able to walk around for hours and never be too far from where you started, but big enough that you can spend a couple days exploring it. My favorite thing about Italy though was definitely the food. It was sooo delicious. I will never forget it.
Switzerland was absolutely beautiful. I could argue that it’s more beautiful than Greece, but they’re both so different you can’t even compare. The reason I went to Switzerland was to see mountains. I live in one of the flattest cities in America in the flattest region in America so the scenery gets pretty damn boring. Getting to ride a cable car to the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps was a pretty cool experience.
Amsterdam was a lot of fun and a really nice city overall. It’s modern but still has an older feel to it, and the people are all very friendly.
Barcelona was a pretty costly last minute trip but it was well worth it. It’s a beautiful city and it has really great vibes. The people I met there were some of my favorite people I’ve met on my whole trip, and even though most of them live in Australia, I’m hoping to see them again one day.
I already have travel plans for the whole upcoming year and can’t wait to experience them. I’m moving to San Fransisco on August 26th where I’ll be attending the Academy of Art University and majoring in product design.
In either December or January, I’ll be going on a 10-day trip to Israel and next summer I’ll be returning to Greece and if I can save up enough money, I’m going to go to Australia after that.
I’ve been home for 5 days now, and it is nice, but I would honestly do anything to leave right now and go back to Europe for the rest of the summer. It was such a fantastic experience overall and I wish that everybody on earth had the opportunity to travel like I did.
Thank you all so much for supporting me by reading my blog. I’ve had over 2,200 individual people look at it! I had a great time sharing my journey with all of you and I truly hope you enjoyed what I had to say. I will probably keep up with the blog just not as often as the last few months, but I will definitely restart on my future travels.
Thank you all, and until my next adventure.
Sophie
Below I’ll share some of my favorite photos and moments from my travels.
This is Dina's daughter, Spendy. I brought with me to Ghana a suitcase full of adorable little hair accessories donated by my amazing boss Vanessa. On my first day there, I emptied the suitcase and told Spendy to pick out anything she wanted. Since that day, I had never seen Spendy so happy as she was during that moment. I really love this picture because of the huge smile on her face. For the rest of the month that I spent there, I never saw Spendy smile like this. It was really a heartwarming feeling.
Spendy, (right) her best friend Dola (middle) and her cousin Nancy (left) getting ready for church
Me and one of my favorite kids at Adom Day Care, Karina.
The Catacombs in Paris
The incredible Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia
The only colored house in Stari Grad, Croatia
Red Beach in Santorini, Greece
Beautiful Santorini
Tubing challenge in Ios, Greece
Manrola, Cinque Terre, Italy
On top of the world in Meiringen, Switzerland
Brienz, Switzerland
Ios reunion in Barcelona with Tony and Gareth!
The last 5 months have been the best 5 months of my life and this journey will always remain a part of me.