As my list of places I’d been began to outnumber the places I was going, people started to ask me what my favorite was. After spending five years ruminating on where I dreamed to go the most, I picked well– wherever I was became my new favorite place. I loved each one for different reasons.
London was like the person I judged too soon on first meeting. The ones who I don’t think very much of and then later I discover that they are awesome. When I first met London, it didn’t electrify me like New York City did. As I wandered its streets as a tourist I didn’t feel the magic. But when I experienced London with Rose, who is always fun to be with but who also is a local living and working there, I didn’t want to leave. Ever. 
Amsterdam was like a fairytale. I felt like I was in a different magical world that followed different rules with all the flower donned bridges over the canals, the sneaky tall buildings and the swarms of bicyclists. It was delightful in the way that it didn’t matter that everything seemed a bit unreal.
Paris was the popular girl at school who is so charming that you think she likes you, but she was just being nice because that’s what makes her popular and she doesn’t need to be your friend because she already has plenty.
Paris totally captivated me, but I didn’t feel cool enough for Paris (or temperature cool either!).
Barcelona continuously enchanted and challenged me. Every time I turned a corner I was dazzled by the architecture, the balconies, the narrow streets, and the relaxed and forgiving mentality.
I got lost most often in Barcelona and I felt most lost trying to navigate the unfamiliar language but I felt most at home with its cultural similarities to my beloved Italia.
I get bored when things are too easy and Barcelona tested my abilities to figure things out all the while delighting my senses encouraging me to keep playing the game.
From the moment I touched down in Scotland I felt unexpectedly and overwhelmingly peaceful and happy.
The cool air calmed me into a state of bliss as I found myself drinking in the beauty of the nature surrounding me. As a city girl, lots of nature usually makes me feel slightly uneasy- what if I need something from civilization that I can’t get? I was so surprised how reassuring this natural environment was to me.
And, of course, I was delighted by it’s cities with Edinburgh’s deep narrow corridors 
and Glasgow’s relaxed sense of humor. 
In Ireland I saw the most spectacular cliffs.
I was pinching myself because I couldn’t believe I was seeing places so dramatically magnificent in real life. 
And yet emotionally I was at baseline. Ireland felt completely normal. It felt exactly like when I step onto a ship to go on a cruise with my mom. I look around and find myself in an opulent setting– I should be at least a little wowed to be outside of my comfort zone– and yet I feel like I’m home and everything is normal and as it should be.
I could have doubled my time in every place I visited and still not have run out of things to explore. Therefore, I’m keeping my metro cards with just a little bit of currency left on them, my lists of what I want to see and a handful of foreign coins and notes, knowing that someday I will return to see these places through the eyes of my life on the other side of what I create next.