One girl, six countries, seventeen cities: Journey to Munich
Solo travel led to unexpected friendships and self-discovery. JYM student 2023-24 Hannah Burton (George Washington University ‘25) shares her exploration of six countries, 17 cities and countless unforgettable moments across Europe.
A first step into the unknown
Before I departed on my journey to Munich for my junior year, I had never imagined taking six solo trips by myself and gaining a reputation within the program for being an avid solo traveler.
Just two years prior, I had never stepped foot into an airport or known how to take public transportation – these were experiences I had to learn because I left my small town in Massachusetts to attend college in Washington D.C.
Travel, in general, was a foreign concept to me, but it was an experience I had desperately craved since childhood. My choice to move to Munich for the year was a bold move considering I had never left the United States. At the time, nobody in my household had ever left the United States either. I was embarking on a journey that no one in my immediate family had the expertise to advise me for. I know what you’re probably thinking, why did I go on all these solo trips? Like I said, it was never a part of my original plan. This may be a surprise, but I was anxious, sometimes even terrified before I went on many of them, but the adrenaline I experienced after each success made me want more.
I realized I needed to take fate into my own hands to ensure I accomplished my travel goals. I’m a big believer in the concept that we must not wait for opportunities to come to us, but rather that we should create our own opportunities. That is truly how we grow and expand in this lifetime. When it comes to travel, I realized that so many people waste time looking for the perfect travel companion or waiting for someone to want to come along, but this does nothing except keep you stagnant for longer than you need.
For a long time, I remained stagnant because I let my lack of experience and fears dictate my life. I was going to travel with purpose. I had already come so far and didn’t care how many hostels I had to sleep in, how many Flix buses or how many flights I had to take to accomplish that. By leaving my comfort zone, I was putting myself in a position to grow and wasn’t going to regret it. I wanted to discover myself while I discovered the world. Thus, began the story of “One Girl, Six Countries, Seventeen Cities.”
Embracing the solo travel mindset
During my time in Europe, I solo-traveled to the Netherlands (Amsterdam and The Hague), Poland (Kraków, Wrocław, Warsaw, & Gdańsk), England (London), Italy (Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena), Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, & Segovia) and Hungary (Budapest & Szentendre). I have so many stories from all of these trips and I truly loved every single one. I will tell you about my trip to Italy because it’s the perfect example of spontaneous solo travel adventure.
I arrived in Florence after sitting in an overnight Flixbus for eight hours. It was pitch black at 6 a.m. Right off the bat, it started chaotically. I went to the bathroom and this old lady with a full-grown beard (legit) walked in and, from what I could hear, said some Italian nonsense to me: “Blah blah ragazza, ragazza, pistola!” Something like that. Then, I wanted to buy a tram ticket to the city, but the machine had a sign that said it was broken. This man walked up to me and told me he was selling tickets. I bought one and immediately felt like a dumb tourist because I realized they were already validated tickets that he had just used white-out on.
I ran up to this random girl, who I later knew to be Sara, to see if she had bought the same tickets. She hadn’t because there was another machine closer to the platform…haha. I took the risk and decided to get on the tram with her anyway. We discovered we were both Americans studying abroad. She was from Pennsylvania but studying in Nice. I didn’t get fined on the tram and spent my first seven hours in the city exploring with her.
A friendship across borders
Later that day, I checked into my hostel. I briefly met my roommate from Brazil, Vitoria, before venturing off into the city again. When I came back to the room at night, I noticed that nobody else had joined us even though the room was meant for eight. We took the opportunity to get to know each other.
Vitoria had just completed her psychology degree and was using her free time to travel solo through Italy and then volunteer for a month in Morocco. We found out we would be leaving Florence on the same day. I proposed that we hang out two days from the night of our conversation since I had a tour the next day.
The following night, I came back super late. All of the lights were off. Vitoria was awake, but four new girls had been sleeping so we had no time to discuss plans. I eventually got in bed and just hoped that she would wake up at the same time as me in the morning, but suddenly I heard her across the room. She showed me her Instagram username with her phone. Luckily, we were able to arrange plans to spend the day exploring museums together. I was about to go to sleep, but then I heard her call me again across the room: “Hannah?” “Yeah?” “I prayed to God to meet good people and you are one of them, I know it. I’m just thinking right now.” It is still one of the sweetest things anybody has ever said to me.
We spent the following day together going to Capelle Medici, Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. We ended up singing songs with a crowd at Piazzale Michelangelo. On our final morning, we went to the bus station together and waited until it was time to go our separate ways.
She was off to Rome and I was headed back to Munich. Although we had a short time together, it was one of the most genuine connections I’ve felt with someone all year. Had I not been on a solo, I wouldn’t have experienced something so unexpected and beautiful.