January 3rd, 2016. This day marks the beginning of a trip full of rainy days, surreal experiences, phenomenal fellowship, and a period of my life only describable as grand.

I don’t plan on giving you a life-revelation here. I won’t even tell you that a college experience is incomplete without studying abroad. I will try to amuse you, if only briefly, by describing the absolute riot that was Ireland.

Almost a year ago now, I boarded a plane at MSP and reverse-boarded at DUB—Dublin, Ireland.

The flight to Dublin was exactly what you would expect from it; cramped, long, and just uncomfortable enough to make it difficult to sleep. I finished up Slaughterhouse-Five, and then dozed off to the Best of John Williams, which American Airlines so kindly provided to me.

Dublin Airport was dead quiet when I got there. I expected quite the line up in the Non-EU Passport line, but there were only three people, and I got through within ten minutes of unloading the plane.

Without too much trouble, I found my orientation group and was transported to our orientation hotel.

I knew that I needed to force myself to stay awake otherwise the jetlag would cause me to remain tired throughout the week, so I sat around. Went through my luggage. Took a long shower. Removed my contacts. And it was only 7:00 PM at this point. I swear Dublin had a method of slowing down time… or making me more efficient.

Regardless, I finally settled down, clean and refreshed, and watched the movie In Bruges.

Within a few short days, after our new-to-Ireland-here’s-how-not-to-die orientation, we snagged a bus and began our grueling ride across the entire country.

It took two and a half hours. The first few days in Galway were a blur. I toured NUI Galway, dealt with pelting rain, looked at class modules, tried to create a schedule, found countless churches, ran all about the town, and saw countless dogs off leashes.

This was also about the time I discovered my true love in Ireland: The Dough Bros.

Dough Bros is one of, if not the best, pizza places I have ever eaten in. Dough must be used within three days, and all of their pizzas are made as 11’’ circles of heaven. No larges, no mediums, no tavern-style; just one size and one style, customized however you like it.

Traveling around Ireland was a breeze. Because tourism is an integral part of the economic environment, tour companies have made themselves incredibly accessible to everyone—students included.

Within a week of being in Ireland, I had plans to visit the Cliffs of Moher, Kylemore Abby, and the Aran Isles.

But it wasn’t always the Republic of Ireland I traversed; I spent time in Northern Ireland, Belgium, Barcelona, and Budapest. These trips were where the true spontaneity of the world around me began to shine through.

Over the weekend of February 5th, I took a weekend trip to Bruges, Belgium, with an enclave of study-abroad students I had become familiar with.

And what a gorgeous city it is. The whole city of Bruges has been declared an historical landmark, and therefore cannot be modified, so the entire city remains aesthetically the same way it did in medieval times.

It has been described time and time again as a fairy-tale town. That’s not an inaccurate description.

After thoroughly enjoying waffles (naturally), we swung over to a little Italian restaurant, and then a hidden pub in Bruges called de Garre, which is famous for its house beer, Tripel de Garre, served only in the little tucked away public house off one of the main squares.

This brief recap doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of my time abroad.

Looking back to last year brings to mind a cacophony of memories from the short four* months I spent living on the Emerald Isle.

However, if I were to be prodded into describing the most important aspects, I would be hard pressed not to mention the companions I met along the journey.

From fellow Americans studying abroad to the Irish homestay dog that took tea with everyone else, to my zany tour guide in the caves of Budapest, my experience was molded and shaped by these people.

It was never about the location. It was about the people.