Dublin & Reflection

Dublin, you gave us one hell of a send-off!

From London, we took the Rail & Sail to Dublin - a 3 hour train ride then a 3 hour ferry to Dublin. Ferry? More like a cruise liner, equipped with a game room, theater, restaurants, bars, and kid zone. It would've been amazing except for the choppy weather made us woozie the whole time.

When we arrived in Dublin, we checked into Abigail's Hostel. I vowed never to stay in another hostel, but for our final stop we settled for a 3 bed room (and luckily we only had roommates 2/4 nights!).  We dropped our bags and went out for dinner at O'Neils Pub, which was a maze of Christmassy bars, tables, buffets, and staircases. We had a traditional meat n' potatoes dinner, then hopped to Gogarty's pub to listen to live music. We made friends with a couple local guys who were hilariously jigging all night and two Californian college students, and jigged our feet off all night. Too many laughs!

The next day, we set out to explore our portion of the city- the area surrounding the Temple Bar- which is so charming! So many old pubs, shops, a shopping arcade, and tiny streets to explore. At 2:00 we had plans to meet up with the two Californian kids we met at the Guinness Storehouse to do the tour. We walked all through the Medieval quarter of the section until we came upon the enormous Guinness Building. The tour was extremely Disney-esque; not at all what we were expecting. We thought we would see that actual Guinness being brewed and bottled like other brewery tours, but this was just an extravagant funhouse. At the end of the tour we poured our own pints and then went to the panoramic bar, which felt more like a penthouse Christmas party. Mike and I had fun pretending it was his party. "Hi, welcome to my party, who are you here with?" "No one, actually! I live next door and heard you having a party, so I thought I'd stop by!" "Oh.. Well this is an invite-only kind of thing." It gave us a good giggle or three. That night, since we had ran out of money (Dublin is probably the most expensive place we've been to!), so we spent the evening at the hostel blogging, watching Christmas movies, and relaxing.

December 20th we set out to explore the other side of the river, which turned out to be a bunch of department stores and things that we had no interest in. We did a little Christmas shopping, and when we went to drop our bags off Mike overheard the guy behind the front desk mention an easy day-trip to Howth. Twenty minutes later we were on a quick train ride to the nearby fishing village- just the spontaneity we had been waiting for!

Howth was absolutely the Ireland we were hoping to experience. The town was small and quint with layers of fishing boats lining the coastline. We followed the road, with the ocean to our left, until we came to the cliff walk that Howth is known for. We had the best couple of hours following the dirt paths and hiking through the Irish hillside, which dipped steeply into the ocean. By sunset we had completed the cliff walk loop and enjoyed traditional fish and chips in the park before heading back into Dublin for another easy (moneyless) night.

Today was our final day in Dublin and our final full day abroad. We walked through the green and medieval looking Trinity College campus, back through town, then spent the afternoon cozily tucked away in the iconic Temple Bar listening to Christmas music and live irish tunes. We packed our bags for the last time, carved our names onto our lock and locked it to the Ha'penny bridge, and now we are reflecting on these past three months with fond and bittersweet feelings.

Emily
This trip has been everything and nothing that I expected it to be, and each day has been an absolute gift. Having the freedom to create our schedules on a whim has been so exciting and exactly the change of pace we were hoping for. But, if we're being honest, the lack of an itinerary can be exhausting, too, because you're constantly worrying about how to fill your time (while on a tight budget!). Every single day (83 in total) we walked and walked and walked all day. We've seen so much, covered hundreds of miles on our own two feet, and have been able to stop and soak up the amazingness that is our lives. Between our touring days we had to find our way from one country or city to the next, which can be stressful, especially when your mind and body could use a rest. 

These last three months have certainly been tiring, daunting, and stressful. But when I go home and I look back on this incredible gift that Mike and I gave ourselves, I won't remember the feeling of aching/blistered feet or the knots in my back. I'll remember the feeling of touching down in Iceland on day 1 and feeling uncontrollable excitement. I'll giggle when I remember watching Mike jigging and sweating next to two local Irish guys. I'll be able to close my eyes and see the Alpine view that is forever engrained in my mind. I'll provide guidance and advice to future backpackers and tell them all of the places they need to see and things to do. But most of all, all I'll think is, "that was so unbelievably epic." We pushed our comfort zones, each step took us deeper into the unknown, and now we are stronger and better versions of ourselves independently and together as a team.

83 days
28 trains
24 cities
3 flights
1 unforgettable trip

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Mike

The world, the places we've been so far, have given me so much more then a good view or a happy memory. Its made me realize that the humble things you truly want in life are not unattainable. Its okay to derail whatever it is you're doing that may not be giving you exactly what it is that you want from life, to do something that you believe will truly bring you pure joy and happiness. Its given me a new confidence in myself and made my ability to adapt even stronger. Personal growth is one of the most important aspects of inner peace- it keeps your head up and your heart strong, if you build yourself up strong enough it's harder to get knocked down. Its given me a knowledge of culture that only a foreign world can give to you. People are the same yet extremely different everywhere you go. We are the same in our pursuit of a life worth living. For every person, that worth is different. Learning what makes a person or a people unique makes you understand a way of life or a culture, this teaches tolerance, something the world drastically needs. Looking through the many layers of something that has been so diverse and eye opening has put me outside myself and made me look at it from a more distant perspective. The world isn't changing, people are changing the world. We may focus on the negatives , but there is so much good out there and if our energy is in the right places things can change for the better. I know it is a very distant view but when you step outside yourself you can see the bigger picture, and that bigger picture is Us. 

Forever Lost,

Mike