TESS CARCALDI

What’s a small town girl from Connecticut doing 4,104 miles away from home in Florence, Italy? My friends, she is Living. It. Up.

In all seriousness, my decision to study abroad in Florence, Italy has easily been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life thus far. But labeling myself a world traveler right now would be like saying Taylor Swift’s new music is really good (sorry, T-Swift fans). My trip to Florence was my very first international flight. In fact, I can probably count the amount of times I’ve been on a plane throughout my life on one hand (maybe two…maybe. My memory fails me).

When you mix my traveling inexperience with my worst fears of heights and drowning, you get an already-nervous-about-living-in-a-foreign-country 20-year-old girl who is now an even-more-nervous-about-flying 20-year-old girl.

I only had three options in this situation:

1. Attempt to float across the Atlantic Ocean on a pool noodle and either reach Italy in 40 years or become immediate shark bait.
2. Remain in the United States and live the rest of my life both uneducated about the world and regretful of never exploring new places.
3. Get on the freakin’ plane and jet off to the ever-so-beautiful Florence.

If it wasn’t obvious from both my excessive Facebook and Instagram posts (#sorrynotsorry) as well as the fact that this blog post exists, I chose the third option.

As it was my very first international flight, it was certainly an experience I will never forget. In fact, I even learned quite a few lessons from that 24-hour experience. For all you travel newbies, here are 15 things you’ll learn on your very first international flight:

1. Travel pillows are essential. They are not stylish. No. In fact, I was even made fun of by my friends for constantly wearing it. But you know whose neck wasn’t sore? This girl’s.
2. Eat before you get on the plane if possible. The food is HELLA weird, dudes. Pasta from a plastic container with some sort of aluminum cover? Plain yogurt?? No, thanks. But maybe I’ll take a blueberry muffin….
3. People are actually really friendly. Did I befriend a man from Cameroon on the plane? You bet I did. Did I know where Cameroon was before he told me? You bet I didn’t (I’m an English major, give me a break).
4. Time travel is REAL. I don’t care what anyone says, I time traveled. I swear–one minute, dinner was being served, and no less than four hours later, it was already time for breakfast. It was bizarre.
5. Don’t stay up too late watching movies. I regret not sleeping a tad more. The plane is only seven and a half hours from New York to Paris–don’t be fooled by the fact that you depart at 7:20 p.m. and arrive the next morning in Paris at 8:00 a.m. Remember, you’re time traveling, so if you’re lucky, you can squeeze in at least five hours of sleep. Those damn movies.
6. Always pick the aisle seat. Always. Easy access to the bathroom and to your carry-on luggage. This is absolutely essential for those of you who have the bladder of a squirrel (aka me). When everyone else is sleeping and you suddenly are about to pee your pants, it’s a no-sweat situation: you can simply get out of your seat and relieve your bladder rather than climbing over the sleeping woman next to you and making an enemy in the process.
7. It’s totally normal to brush your teeth in an airport bathroom. After not brushing your teeth for about half a day, your mouth feels pretty nasty. Brush those suckers in the airport bathroom–don’t worry, everyone does it.
8. Keep facial wipes and deodorant on you at all times. These are lifesavers when it’s been a while since you’ve been able to shower. Keep it fresh, ladies and gents. 
9. Different airports have different carry-on size requirements. I found this out the hard way when my JFK-approved carry-on had to be checked in Paris.
10. Not everyone looks gross after traveling for a day, and it will make you feel like a potato. Like, why is her hair so nice?? How are you wearing jeans?? Let me know.
11. Not knowing the native language doesn’t impede you that much while traveling. Honestly,  I thought I’d end up in China since I really only speak English and Spanish and I was heading to an airport where neither of those languages are spoken. But it was fairly easy to navigate my way around, and here I am at my final destination.
12. Layovers suck. Waiting around for your connector flight is similar to watching paint dry with your eyelids taped open. You are incredibly exhausted and just want to sleep, but you have to keep your wits about you or you’ll never adjust to European time. Plus, if you miss your flight, you’re SOL.
13. Jetlag is REAL. Honestly, I was a jetlag skeptic. Could someone really be that tired because of a little human invention called time? The answer: yes. SO MUCH YES. I have never been that tired in my life. From going to bed at 3:00 a.m. and waking up twelve hours later, adjusting to European time is harder than it looks, folks. 
14. Turbulence is singlehandedly the most terrifying thing on this planet. Just another flying phobia of mine now. There’s nothing scarier than one moment, being asleep, and the next, being lurched forward because your plane hit a patch of turbulence. Did I think I was dying in that moment? YES.
15. Most of all, I learned that this was about to be the trip of a lifetime. Honestly, even as I was thousands of feet up in the air zooming toward Europe, I couldn’t believe that I was about to have the best four months of my life exploring the world and its various cultures.

Actually, I wake up every morning in my apartment, open the shutters as if I’m in a movie, look out onto the buzzing streets of Florence, and ask my best friend, “Can you believe we’re in Italy?!” to which she responds, “Yes, Theresa, I can because you say it approximately five times a day.”

Regardless of her sass and my own daily disbelief, I am fully aware that this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I am taking full advantage of. Only in my third week here, I can’t believe how much I have grown and learned and experienced in such a short amount of time. I can’t wait to see what the rest of my weeks have planned for me.

And if I’ve already learned 15 lessons within a timespan of one flight and one connector flight, I already know that this semester will be full of lessons.

Let the lessons begin!