I am one of those people who has been planning their Europe trip since 8th grade. My love of History came with the discovery of the Percy Jackson novels (cliché I know) and Greek Mythology. It then turned into Roman Mythology and went on from there. Once I got to high school, particularly grade 11, that’s when my interests became strong. Grade 11 was when we were studying both WWI and WWII and having familial connections to WWII, I found it fascinating. In grade 12 I took another history class that covered even more of WWII and the Cold War and I was set.
However, when I first came to university, it wasn’t for history, it was for business. But when things didn’t work out, I realized that the degree I actually wanted to do was history, and so that’s what I did. Now I am majoring in history, minoring in classical studies and it was one of the best decisions I made. I still am not quite sure what I am going to specifically do with this degree, whether it be to teach, do research or work in a museum, but I know this is the degree I was meant to take. Knowing that I was going to be studying Europe for the next 3.5 years I knew that when I graduated I would take myself on a whirlwind trip around the countries that I studied as a graduation trip and a break from the confines of a classroom knowing that I will be going back for either another degree or a masters.
The trip I want to take when I graduate is basically a big circle all around Europe. It starts in Dublin, Ireland and goes all the way around Europe ending in Belgium. The cities are as follows:
- Dublin, Ireland
- London, England
- Paris, France
- Marseille, France
- Cinque Terre, Italy
- Florence, Italy
- Rome, Italy
- Naples, Italy
- Athens, Greece
- Budapest, Hungary
- Vienna, Austria
- Milan, Italy
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Munich, Germany
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Berlin, Germany
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Brussels, Belgium
There will also be day trips and other excursions to smaller cities that are close to the main ones, like Pompeii, Dunkirk, Pisa, Verona, and many more. This trip is a culmination of so many years of learning, so I will be taking my time!
Because I’m a history major, this trip is going to be more than just sightseeing. It going to be a trip based around centuries of history. Going to the places where decisive battles took place and some of the most important meetings and decisions were made in History.
Because so much of my degree focuses on Europe, I want to be able to see the places where everything I’m learning about took place. From the battlefields of WWI to the locations of the decisive battles in WWII. I want to be able to see the history of Europe from 753BCE all the way to the present day.
There is so much that happened in the periods of history that I am learning about and I believe it will be beneficial to see everything that I have learned about in the classroom – in person.
This is a different article, but I’ve realized over the past 2 years how much my degree is affecting the way I want to travel and plan my future trips. There is so much stuff to know out there and only so much that can be learned in a classroom. Sometimes the best classroom is the world itself and that is what I want this trip to be – a new classroom.