Well… I just went on an adventure of a lifetime a few days ago by traveling to Paris, France! I wanted to wait until I was 100 percent positive that this trip was a go before posting anything here. I was going to write something to post here while on the trip but I was just lost in the moments. I did a few vlogs while resting throughout my trip but I don’t feel confident in posting any of them except one (maybe). I did consider it a video podcast so I most likely will post it at some point next week. Maybe… I apologize for posting this very late. I’m still struggling with jet lag and trying to adjust back to my normal mundane routine.
When Dreams Become True In Reality
I can no longer say dreams don’t come true. The impossible can be possible and there’s always a way to live a dream. I was in a dream from December 8th to December 11th. It was just a pure magical moment for me, especially on my birthday which was the 9th. It was the best birthday ever. It was the best moment of my life. Going to the summit of the Eiffel Tower. Seeing the best view of the Tower at the Homme Museum. It was just unbelievable. Looking back, words can not express the shock and feelings I had at the time. I wish I could put that moment on freeze frame for eternity. The weather was perfect. I was there at sunrise and the view was just incredible. More than incredible, it was pure magic. It’s funny because I was stalking the weather channel every day for a week. Every day until the 8th, the weather report said it was going to rain. Then there was a moment I said to myself that it was not going to rain on my birthday and I was going to will nature to not make it happen. It will not rain on my birthday! lol… I know I probably had nothing to do it with but there wasn’t a drop of rain and the weather was perfect! Sunny and cold. The best combination for me and my birthday! My birthday is such a wild card when it comes to the weather: Rain, cold, somewhat warm for the time of year, snow storms, anything can happen.
Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”. ~ Audrey Hepburn
Going to Paris and visiting the Eiffel Tower is a life dream for me. I feel like my life is complete. I feel at peace with everything. My life has been one failure to the next in so many aspects. To be able to achieve this dream feels surreal but completes me. If you’ve read previous posts you know this has been dream of mine for many years. Close to 20 years…. I thought it was utterly impossible. I thought the only way I’ll see Paris with my own eyes was in my dreams or possibly in death. I still can’t believe I was in Paris. I was in Paris, France!!!! I walked to the Eiffel Tower, I was inside the Eiffel Tower. I was at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It feels incredible to write those words! All the mistakes and failures… I am at peace with it. I am… finally. I accept it and I fought so hard to get there and maybe there were some circumstantial things that happened that helped but I took myself out of a huge comfort zone to make this trip happen.
When Life Dreams Demolish Life long Fears
I never been on plane or to an airport. I never been to the west coast of USA. The farthest I’ve gone was Louisiana and that’s when I was a baby. I don’t remember any of that so in my memory, the farthest I’ve gone was Virginia. I’ve had a huge fear of planes for the longest time. It’s crazy because the fear of planes was the last thing on my mind while heading to the airport. The only time it hit me was when the plane took off the first time. It took me a moment to relax and calm myself down. It was like the plane did a mad dash to take flight and experiencing that for first time was scary yet exhilarating. The only time I was ever really scared was the last flight back home. There was a lot of turbulence. It was raining and the weather was just horrible. I thought at that point, I was scared but also at peace. Everyone around me seem relatively calm and that helped.
Oodles and Oodles of Video Footage and Pics To Feast On
I have so much footage of my travels throughout Paris. I think I have enough video footage to make two separate video albums. One exclusively featuring the Rodin Museum. I think that museum and Museum D’orsay have definitely changed my life and perspective in art. This whole journey has changed my life in the best way.
Now… I don’t want to post everything about the trip in one post. I did write something while planning the trip that I plan to post after editing. I also want to write about my experiences at certain locations, like Rodin and Museum D’Orsay. I tried to see as much as possible within three days. It was tough and my feet definitely paid a huge price, lol!
My First Trip Abroad Traveling Solo
It still feels strange to say that I actually went to Paris. Plus… I went alone. My first trip abroad and it was so amazing, breathtaking at certain points! The only times I felt nervous was possibly testing positive for COVID during my trip. I am vaccinated but I’ve heard stories of people getting sick while vaccinated and also I had to take three tests within one week. By the 10th, I was just getting annoyed and thinking I know I’m not sick and these tests were getting more uncomfortable to take and I spent 200 dollars on tests! The other two times I was nervous was having conversations in French and basically my whole experience at the O’hare airport. Traveling throughout the streets of Paris was just beautiful most of the time. I definitely wish I was fluent. I know I would have had a better time. Not that I had a horrible time but I had some language barrier incidents. Overall that really doesn’t matter. I think I actually had three solid conversations in French. Very short conversations, more like simple exchanges like saying Hello, please, how much does this costs, thanks a lot, good bye, have a nice day, how are you, I’m doing fine, and that’s just about it. I did run into quite a few friendly folks. One of the security officers at the Eiffel Tower was so friendly. It honestly made my time at the Eiffel Tower even more perfect. The whole trip wasn’t perfect but the essence of the trip was perfect if that makes sense. Just being at the Eiffel Tower made everything perfect.
The Best Tattoo Made Ever!
I got a tattoo on my birthday to symbolize my feelings and the whole experience. On my arm I have in French: Je suis dans un rêve with birds flying around the words. The words mean I am in a dream in English. Which I said at the beginning of this post I was in. To me, Paris is a once in a lifetime experience that I hope I will never forget. I can’t see myself forgetting it. I’m going to make this upcoming Paris travel series art album, my last album… the best album ever! I’m going to dedicate at least 5 months towards it. I will start soon. It feels kind of intimidating especially thinking about making a design for Eiffel Tower. I will try my best!
Time jumps are not your best friend.
I had such a rough time traveling back to the States. The nine hour flight back home felt like I was squished like a sardine in economy and it was no fun. Combined by the fact it was very difficult to eat. Water and ice was spilled all over me by one of the flight attendants. Food was being knocked over. It was just a mess. If it wasn’t for the sleeping pills I had, that flight would have been excruciating. Ever time I woke up, I was hearing babies screaming and crying. It didn’t help that when I arrived in Chicago it was only 1pm but I left Paris at 11am. That was an adjustment and thankfully I had a long layover because I was stuck in large lines at customs and security for over two hours. By that point, I was beyond ready to get back home. The last flight I talked briefly above was horrible. But… I was so tired, I immediately passed out when I got on the plane. I went through three different time zones and was well past the 15 hour traveling mark and needed a true rest. I woke up briefly to the flight attendant mentioning there was going to be turbulence because of the weather. I didn’t feel it at the time but woke up again to lots of turbulence towards the end of the flight. It honestly made me hate flying during that moment but I would totally like to fly again if I was not in economy and if I was going somewhere nice, somewhere that’s worth the risk.
To Pick An Aisle Seat or Window Seat? That’s the question!
I think it’s wise not to have an aisle seat (that’s not the center row on the plane. I’m talking about The left and right sides of the plane) if you’re going to be stuck on a plane for over 7 hours. There were many times I had to get up, even while sleeping. I picked a better seat coming back to Paris in a centered aisle seat and my neighbor who sat in the middle was kind enough not to ask me to get up to go to the bathroom. She had options and always asked the other person. I think she felt sorry for me after the food/water incident, lol. Plus, I believe I was only functional for maybe 2 hours during the flight because of the sleeping pills. I don’t recommend what I did but it was necessary to take those pills because my sanity depended on it! Any time I was up, I was trying to eat something and was completely out of my mind. I also only had two hours of sleep before that flight so I don’t know if that helped or hurt me. At the end of the day… The only flight that was enjoyable was the first one from Philly to Toronto. It was at the perfect time of day, there was no turbulence. I had a nice window seat and no one was sitting next me. Compared to the next three flights I was on, looking back, that flight felt like first class!
Hey… It was all totally worth it to be in Paris and be inside the Eiffel Tower!
There’s so much more I want to say but I guess it feels incredible to finally say that dreams really do come true.