The sum of our misadventures

After reading the "The sum of our misadventures", it definitely gave me a whole new perspective on how to think about the traveling I have done so far and the things that have happened to me. When I first got to Oxford, I was a little bit homesick and feeling out of the loop because I was living with a group of girls that had been best friends for the past 2 years. It was like I was intruding on their time or as if I was some burden that they had to drag along with them. Now that it has been a month this feeling has subsided but I look back now and I see that if I did not come with people who I did not know that well then I would probably never had become friends with them, I never would have had half the things to talk/write about that I do now, and I would never have realized the amount of independence and confidence I need to gain.

I look back again at this past weekend and I don't think about how on time we were for the buses, trains, and airplanes, or how annoyed we all were when we couldn't find our hostel that happened to be right down the street. Instead I think about the hilarious moments, like when I was dared to stand on a table and chug and entire Stein at 9 o'clock in the morning, or when we all were trying to decide how we wanted to do our hair on the train ride into Munich, or the amount of times that we cut the line and pulled strings to get into the tents at Oktoberfest. I know that I have already written one blog on this topic, but after reading "the sum of our misadventures" it truly does show me how the only way to have a "good trip" is to have a bad one. By the end of this trip I hope to have so many more memories of getting lost in random countries, trying food that I didn't even know was edible, and planning as many trips as possible (even if it means that I'll run out of money faster than I would like to). I am realizing that this trip is not all about money, it's about the misadventures we have, and the excursions that we choose to go on. I plan on leaving the UK with a completely different mindset and a completely new outlook on life. The important things are not money, or relationships that you thought were going to last from back home. What's important are the experiences that you choose to face, and the paths that you decide to go down; the people that you choose to meet; the attitude you choose to have; and the chances that you are willing to take.

Yesterday was yet another day of exploring. I was walking around downtown Oxford trying to find a place to top up my phone and there were so many people there. I noticed the different variety of clothing that people choose to wear. You wonder if they even look in the mirror before they step out of the door in the morning! One fashion statement that I found quite popular is leggings underneath jean shorts with button ups and ankle boots. I mean I am not an expert on fashion but it seemed a little odd to me. People are also into the different hair-dos here as well, like colored hair, colored hair mohawks, hair that hasn't been washed in a week... The European style is definitely much different than the United States. Although as much as I criticize some of the outfits that people choose to wear, there are some wardrobes that I wish were my own. Such as long sweaters, and skinny jeans, really cute boots, adorable heels, sun dresses that I can wear back in the states. If only I had an unlimited supply of money....