LESSONS LEARNED Part 2: Use Your Brain

It's been a few weeks since my first "Lessons Learned" installment, and it's about time I share with you the new knowledge I've gained since then. I'm gettin' wicked smaht ova hea. So here we go:

Lesson 1: Bring your rainboots. Come on, this is Ireland. I touched on this in my post about Cork when I got caught without them on a cold rainy day. Freezing my toes off and getting my real boots wet and muddy was enough to make me want to wear rain boots every single day, regardless of the weather. Now, I bring them along with me if I know I’ll be walking around or hiking outside. This all plays into a much larger lesson that’s been emerging: Think ahead. Be prepared. Other experiences that have fallen under this category include finding out I booked a flight home from Amsterdam the day I have an un-reschedulable (yes, I made that word up) Irish art test. I had to change my flight home for a day earlier. Another applicable lesson, one I’ve already talked about in a previous post, I didn’t actually have to learn the hard way: always bring a back pack. You just never know what you’ll find to bring home.

Lesson 2: Make it stretch, girl. If there’s one thing that buying groceries and cooking for myself has taught me, it’s that you can make things last way longer than you thought (maybe even longer than they’re supposed to). You’d be surprised how long a girl can make cereal, eggs, and pasta last. That being said, I do cook some pretty shmancy meals for myself (I’ll credit you with that one, Dad). But when you’re trying to make €25 worth of groceries last two weeks, food starts getting a little scarce. Lesson 2-2: Milk is precious. Don’t abuse it. As we speak I’m preparing to jet off to Barcelona later today, and have been running on a steady diet of pasta and cereal for the past 2 days. Woo carbs! But the little money I saved I can spend on some delicious Spanish cuisine. Viva Espana!!

Lesson 3: Try new things every chance you get. Here’s another lesson that thankfully, has not been learned the hard way. I’m trying to pack in as many new and unforgettable experiences as I can while I’m here. That’s the point of this whole thing right? I’ve tried some cool new foods like blood sausage and oyster beer (both of which were better than they sound). I also unknowingly tried what I discovered to be pure duck fat. I’m still trying to live that one down. I’ve taken small adventures around Dublin and bigger excursions around Ireland. I’ve booked trips to places I never dreamed I’d get to see, and may never be able to see again. I’m looking forward to all the new lessons I’ll be learning about traveling in Europe – hopefully they won’t all be the hard way!

I’ll be back from Spain on Tuesday afternoon, hopefully with many new experiences to blog about and pictures to show off!

Until then, adios amigos!