Magical feeling 🇱🇻✨

In 2021 I hadn’t really ever traveled. I was (and still am) studying in the The Hague, the Netherlands (Entrepreneurship bachelor) and I was offered the opportunity to do an Erasmus exchange study somewhere in Europe.

I was given a list of countries to choose from, a huge list actually. Everyone had to list a top 3 schools and then the professors would decide where you were going.

My top 3 was:
1. Sweden
2. Latvia
3. Belgium

I chose Sweden because one of my friends went there and it didn’t feel too “out of my comfort zone”.

Latvia I picked because I wanted to sounds cool and original to my friends haha I didn’t know anything about the country and I thought: “Well, it’s my second choice, so it doesn’t matter it’s completely out of my comfort zone. I’m probably going to Sweden anyway.”

And then… I got an email…

“Hey Luke, it’s [professor]! You’re going to Latvia!”

My initial reaction was: “What have I done…”

But soon after came the excitement and anticipation of the unknown, a feeling that up til then I had never really felt.

Long story short, my time in Latvia opened my eyes completely to traveling, Europe, and especially Eastern Europe. I learned so much from my time in Riga.

If you’re reading this and you’re not sure whether you should study abroad, let me tell you this:

I was a shy and introverted person who rarely took any risks. It just took one brave decision (to study abroad) that changed my entire life and personality and it created a snowball effect that lead me to this point where I’m talking to you through this reel caption on my travel page with 275k followers. Something I wouldn’t ever have dreamed of having.

One brave decision… that’s all it takes! The rest will follow.

To those of you that have studied abroad too, in what city did you study and what has that time taught you?

#europe #studyabroad #studentexchange #europetravel #europetrip #student #studentlife #riga #latvia #studyabroadlife #travel #travelinspiration #travelblogger

[错位的叹号]

Mine is Madrid. 😢😢 how I wish to go back there just to enjoy the smell in the air

[michael]

LOVE your videos! Keep up the great work. I’m trying to plan a Riga/Tallinn trip sometime soon. My 2nd home city would be Montréal. ❤ Enjoy your trip!

[JP-umnj]

Singapore for me. Though I never lived there, I loved every minute of it when I visited it. Clean street and metro, nice people, tasty food, safety, the buildings surrounded by vegetals.

[stephane_massey]

I can relate, but Budapest is my second capital

[cybsecprof]

Please make a video for most digitalised European country and the country with the strongest internet connectivity.

[Mipschigotmyღ]

I think my second home city is brussels. i've been there in summer 2024 and its an awesome city. In that city i also discovered my love for traveling. Next year im going to germany to fineally meet my internet best friend, which wouldnt be possible if i wasn't in brussels❤️‍🩹