It’s official!! I graduated with my Master of Science in Engineering on Friday, May 9, 2014. The last two and a half years have been a great experience
\nfor me as I learned a great deal about myself, both strong and weak aspects. I still have a lot to learn and room to grow, but at least I have an
\nidea of where to start!<\/p>\n
As my graduation present to myself, I am heading out for a month long trip in Europe. Since Europe is a big place and a month is not that long in
\nthe grand scheme of things, I am focusing on the UK and Paris.<\/p>\n
I have been overseas before: Ireland in 2007, Mexico in 2008, Amsterdam in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Scotland in 2009, Hungary and Austria in 2010 and Berlin in 2012. But I
\nhave never been for a whole month! I will be traveling alone and staying in hostels throughout the UK and have an apartment
\nin Paris as I will be basing myself there for 10 whole days.<\/p>\n
I get a lot of questions about my trip, so I will answer the common ones now. If you have a question, just email me.<\/p>\n
Why the UK and Paris?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n There are several places I want to visit and I haven’t yet. I was also considering the Black Forest of Germany and the Alps. That will be my 2015 trip, I could have stayed in the UK for the whole month, but I really want to see Paris.<\/p>\n Do you speak French?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n No, and I have been trying to pick up some language using CD’s and travel phrase book so I can get around. Are you renting a car?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n No, the public transportation in Europe is good. I will be traveling on trains and buses to get where I need to go. And my own two legs. I might Why aren’t you going with anyone else?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This is my trip. I don’t know too many people my age that think moving around a foreign country, living out of a backpack and sleeping in a room I always wanted to travel for extensive periods of time, and while most people do this kind of thing right out of high school or college, I was too focused on starting my career. How do you know what to pack?<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n Experience. I have traveled enough to know what I use the most and what I can live without. I also ask friends that have done a similar trip and How are you going to live out of a backpack for a month?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I can pack enough clothes for a week in my backpack. After that I just do laundry. Usually I would find a laundromat, but that can get expensive. So It’s official!! I graduated with my Master of Science in Engineering on Friday, May 9, 2014. The last two and a half years have been a great experience for me as I learned a great deal about myself, both strong and weak aspects. I still have a lot to learn and room to grow, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions\/15"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shannonwhalen.com\/musings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nunless I get a different inspiration. In the UK, I always wanted to go to Glastonbury and Bath, London is a must see and I am also stopping in on Cardiff, Wales.
\nSo after this trip I will have visited all my home lands! My great-grandmother was born in Cardiff, so I wanted to see the beautiful country she came
\nfrom.
\nParis, I would think, is pretty self-explanatory. It’s Paris!!!<\/p>\n
\nIt’s just starting to sink in. I am hoping I will be able to get by. It’s all part of the adventure!<\/p>\n
\nrent a bike as well.<\/p>\n
\nwith strangers is a good time (though I hope to meet some on this trip).
\nI want the freedom to move around and do what I want, when I want. A lot of my friends and relatives also have families
\nmaking it hard for them to just get up and leave for a month.<\/p>\n
\nThat was more of a priority for me. As I completed my Master’s degree, I have a good base behind me and feel this is the time to travel, before I
\nget involved in any projects that will make it harder for me to do this. I am making travel a priority because it is part of what I consider a good
\nlife.<\/p>\n
\nlooked up resources online using Google. Lots of people do this every day, so there is a lot of information.<\/p>\n
\nfor this trip I have a sink plug and soap to do laundry in the sink. I invested in quick dry clothing and I even did a trial run at home so I would
\nknow how long the stuff takes to dry. I am bringing 2 light-weight pair of shoes to switch out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"