"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

I've been here less than 3 hours & I've already made 2 friends at 2 in the morning. This looks promising. My first stop is Dublin, Ireland...it looks exactly like in the movies. Flying in you see the square patches of fields separated by bushes (sadly no sheep!) surrounded by water. Off in the horizon you can see the faint shadow of mountains and the city sitting below it. Jet lag hasn't hit me yet, especially since I woke up to a sunrise at midnight, USA time, so of course my body thinks it should be up.

I promised myself I would only eat at local restaurants, but Starbucks is the exception! It has a special place in my heart, & there's free wifi so I'm enjoying an iced grande nonfat light ice chai while people watching. Listening to the Irish accent will never get old. For the next 2 months, I will be adventuring around Europe eating my heart out, making more friends than I can keep up with, and getting a tan even if it's a farmer's tan.

I've always enjoyed traveling so on a whim, I decided backpacking through Europe alone without any plans would either be really awesome or really stupid. No regrets. My 22 hour layover in Charlotte from Boston was perfect to see the family before I could leave, especially so Stephanie, Mom, & Rhea could repack my bag for me...my lifesavers. I made my first friend, Lina, on that flight. She's this spunky San Francisco-an that was visiting Boston with her friends.

On the way to Dublin, I met Chavon, an army brat who lives in Texas. We started talking as soon as we took off, and now I have a place to stay tonight if I decide to stay in Dublin. We met up with her boyfriend Tim, who is also from Texas, at the airport since he had an earlier flight. Together we went on an adventure meeting our super friendly taxi driver, Peter McCarthy (highly recommend his cab) before searching on foot for their apartment they're staying at for the night. Interestingly, they have American music on the radio...I guess I don't really know what I was expecting. I was more than surprised to see Peter get in the car on the left side, but the rumors are true...they drive on the wrong side of the road!

We eventually made it to the apartment after realizing their address system isn't as easy to follow as ours back home, so now they're sleeping while I'm doing some exploring. I'll be heading to the port in a few hours to catch a 15-hour ferry to Cherbourg, France where I'll take the train to Paris and catch up on some much needed sleep. Looking out the window of Starbucks, this place reminds me of a mix of Charleston, SC with it's rich architecture and Boston, with statues everywhere! Everyone I've met so far has been so nice, but maybe it's the accent. People say hi with a smile as you walk by...reminds me of home. Jet lag is approaching...I can feel it...