#53: visit a castle in Europe

    During my two trips to Europe I spent a lot of my time exploring some of the most beautiful castles that Europe has to offer. Being American we don't have much in terms of old beautiful buildings, which makes seeing things such as this even more impressive. Of course Neuschwanstein in Bavaria was a real treat especially for someone as Disney crazed as myself. But this was a bit too touristy for my taste as I am not one for strict guided tours where you can't explore on your own..which in this case makes sense considering how big the castle is. There were many other places that I went too that had a more relaxed vibe, where you could really get a feeling as to what it would have been like to live there at that time.
  Germany was hands down the best country to see all the castles that one could possibly want too, Austria was a close second with a special shout out to Hohensalzburg Castle of which I had an amazing view of from my University which led to hours of sitting lazily on the rooftop coffee shop not accomplishing anything,

#48: Toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain

For some reason no pictures really exist from my jaunt in Italy so I do not have any proof of this bucket list accomplishment. But I did throw a coin in that old fountain and probably wasted my wish on something only a 17 year old would think of, like having a cute guy say hi to me or Zac Efron declaring love to me. While I was at the fountain some old Italian man came up to me and proposed to me right after I tossed in my coin....which probably was a sad attempted at a wish grant. It was the first time in my Italian adventure where I was proposed to by a random stranger and then followed down the street, and it was for sure not that last. Nothing can boost a girls ego like 2 weeks of constant cat calls but it is also something that is in no way missed.
The actual fountain is extremely beautiful and really gives you a good feeling of the city that people imagine Rome to be. It was a bit hard to find in the middle of the night, but that is what you get for trying to avoid tourists and taking back roads in the most confusing city in Europe.

#92: Go to Dublin, Ireland

            Ireland is a country exactly as you expect it to be with the green rolling hills, sassy old men in thick sweaters and extremely friendly people who are more than eager to show you their beloved country. I was only able to go here for the weekend as I was studying abroad at the time, but I still managed to squeeze in all the main tourist events around the city. Of course we went to the Guinness factory when we did the 'certification training' where you learn to pour the perfect Guinness. We also went to cliffs just outside of the city where we got to explore a small fishing village, watched a rugby game in a pub, went to Dublin castle and just explored the city. The only downside to Ireland was that Dublin was a lot dirtier than I expected, but that is in no way anything that took away from the experience. Just as you would expect, one of the greatest things about Ireland is the people who are very friendly and do not have any trouble doing something extra for you if you have a smile on your face. It was also very refreshing to be in a place that speaks the same language as me after months abroad. This a beautiful country and I would be ecstatic to be able to go back one day. Being that almost every white person from the USA is in someway Irish, it makes it that much more exciting to be able to go to this country because you feel a connection to it....like every other person from America.

#83: Reenact the Sound of Music in Austria

 
Of course since I studied abroad in Salzburg, Austria it made reenacting the Sound of Music an all too common occurrence. Within the first week of arriving to the city, our group was taken on a tour of all the famous spots from where the movie was filmed. Being a musical theatre geek this was quite a treat to see not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world but also to finally get to see in real life so places such as Nonnburg Abbey and the Von Trapp house. With being typical annoying Americans, it because normal to be seen roaming around the city singing the songs which I am sure all the locals quickly began to hate. The tour companies in the city did what they could to draw attention to different sites that had been seen in the movie for all the crowds of tourist to be able to snap a quick picture. Overall everything was worth seeing and is all fairly close to the main part of the city which makes it easy to spend the afternoon getting all the needed sightseeing and picture snapping done. It is also a plus that nothing costs any money to see since it is all part of the town which is always refreshing while touring.

#103: Paint Twister

As seen all over the wonderful world of Pinterest, paint twister is a must do on a nice summer day. It is simple enough, all you have to do is put washable paint on a twister map or even a tarp. Of course make sure that it is removable paint so you are permanently painting your body a different color. Making a mess makes anything that you do better so paint twister is a lot more fun than the usual twister. Simple things such as this can be a lot more fun than elaborately planned activities. 

#3: Get a College Degree

Sometimes you have to do something slightly mature and go out and ‘make something of yourself’, which in this case for me was going getting a degree before running off on more adventures. I went to Eastern Washington University for 3 years and got two degrees in International Affairs and Government. This makes it so in case I never decide to go to school again; at least I will have a BA under my belt as a back. This was an amazing experiences and not only did I learn in the classroom as I would hope considering the amount of money college costs, but it was more of the environment that taught me more about myself and what I want out of life. This gives people the chance to completely make decisions for themselves, which may take them in a different direction in life than they ever would have expected, which can always be pleasantly surprising. College can either be a hoop that you have to jump through in order to move on to something better but it can also be an amazing time in your life to recreate yourself into someone that you might actually like better. It is up to you