By When I started settling into winter break, I honestly had no plans of going out much.
I looked at break as a 5-week period to work every day and save up some money until I finally had to go back to school. And up until the last week of break, that’s exactly what I did.
However, things quickly changed when a few friends and I got to talking about how similarly we spent our time off school. This was the moment that birthed the idea to spontaneously go to Washington together.
We joked about it at first, but when we went through all of the hypotheticals, we realized how possible it really was.
The flights fit our college-student budget, the trip fit into the gaps of our work schedules and our parents wouldn’t know (they thought we were just going out of town for the weekend).
Mountain Rainier in airplane window view on the way back home. Photo credit: Ana Sophia Papa
There was no reason not to go.
All of a sudden, there we were picking out flights, packing our bags, booking Airbnbs and eventually heading to Washington.
Once we had arrived, we touched on most of the typical tourist attractions before doing some exploring of our own. These would include the Space Needle, the Seattle Art Museum, the Public Central Market and the infamous gum wall.
Did we have any idea what we were doing or where we were going? Not at all. Having to figure it out along the way though was a substantial part of the fun.
At the end of the day, that trip alone set my expectations for the rest of the year. It gave me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and do something I would’ve never done a couple of months ago.
When I look at the year 2023, I’m hoping to take more trips like this and enjoy the time I have away from my responsibilities to live in the moment.
Not to say school and work is insignificant, but being able to live outside of the box in any way, impromptu trips and all, is just as important. Risk-taking has the ability to fundamentally change a person for the better.
