Today two of my friends leave on an amazing, month-long, globe-trotting, post-grad trip. Before they plunge into the real-world workforce, they are hitting an enviable array of cities and countries: Tokyo, Bangkok, New Delhi, Dubai, Vienna, Munchen, Prague, and Frankfurt. My first, instinctive emotion: pure jealousy. My second emotion: a (very begrudging and obligatory) sense of excitement that my friends get to experience the world. My third emotion: A faint hope that they will bring me souvenirs. (Or at the very least, the phone number of a wealthy, travel-loving, potential husband for me that they come across in Dubai).
My two friends will be starting up jobs as soon as they return from their travels, and as they majored in Actuarial Sciences and Engineering, I know these jobs would not appeal to me, in spite of the travel they are funding. For four years, I avoided anything related to math and science like the plague, and only fulfilled my science requirements thanks to 'Natural Disasters' and 'Introduction to the Solar System.' However, as I read over Tom and Tim's itinerary, and realize that the current unpaid summer internship I have lined up would not fund a roundtrip flight to Japan (let alone adding flights to another six or so countries) I can't help but wonder: would enduring four years of science/math classes would be a worthwhile trade-off for seeing the Taj Mahal? (I loved my majors. Seriously, I actively enjoyed a 400-level class on Restoration Comedy, so you can't get more 'meant-to-be-an-English-major' than that. But the travel bug is biting, and hard (Peru, anyone?) - so the jury is still out).
At the very, very least, if I am stranded in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, I'm glad my friends have interesting and exciting travel plans. I plan to spend my time over the next four weeks stalking Facebook albums, obsessively pestering for email updates, and implying (with no great degree of subtlety) my love of postcards and souvenirs.
On that note: have a great trip boys! The wheels on your welcome-back-to-America party (menu: burgers, mac & cheese and fries) have already been put in motion!
My two friends will be starting up jobs as soon as they return from their travels, and as they majored in Actuarial Sciences and Engineering, I know these jobs would not appeal to me, in spite of the travel they are funding. For four years, I avoided anything related to math and science like the plague, and only fulfilled my science requirements thanks to 'Natural Disasters' and 'Introduction to the Solar System.' However, as I read over Tom and Tim's itinerary, and realize that the current unpaid summer internship I have lined up would not fund a roundtrip flight to Japan (let alone adding flights to another six or so countries) I can't help but wonder: would enduring four years of science/math classes would be a worthwhile trade-off for seeing the Taj Mahal? (I loved my majors. Seriously, I actively enjoyed a 400-level class on Restoration Comedy, so you can't get more 'meant-to-be-an-English-major' than that. But the travel bug is biting, and hard (Peru, anyone?) - so the jury is still out).
At the very, very least, if I am stranded in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, I'm glad my friends have interesting and exciting travel plans. I plan to spend my time over the next four weeks stalking Facebook albums, obsessively pestering for email updates, and implying (with no great degree of subtlety) my love of postcards and souvenirs.
On that note: have a great trip boys! The wheels on your welcome-back-to-America party (menu: burgers, mac & cheese and fries) have already been put in motion!
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