Santiago Diaz Finochietto is a communications major from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a transfer student from North Carolina Wesleyan College and hopes to become a sports journalist.
At the beginning of 2017, some friends and I decided to travel to London for an entire month by ourselves. In Argentina, where I am from, the school year starts in March and our plan was to travel from Jan. 3 to Feb. 4. At that time, my friends and I were just 15 years old and to be honest, it was an amazing idea, but it was a hard plan to set in motion.
Our families did not like the idea very much, but once they saw the trip as an opportunity for us to become not only more aware of other countries’ cultures but also to become more responsible and independent, they were on board with the idea. From that moment on, we started to arrange our travel plans and in a blink of an eye, we were waiting for our plane to depart from the gate. All six of us were sitting together in the plane for the 14-hour flight. At first, it was sort of fun, but when the time continued to pass, our patience dwindled. Luckily, we fell asleep and arrived at London’s national airport, Heathrow.
Once at Heathrow, we got our luggage and took a bus to our Airbnb. The first couple of days, we tried to organize our plans and schedule what we were going to do for at least the first week. We were all friends from school, but we knew we weren’t going to agree all of the time. Agreeing on what to do was our main challenge, but because none of us had ever traveled to London before, we concluded that the best idea was for all of us to do the same activities the first two weeks until we knew how to tour London properly and, most importantly, safely.
England is one of my favorite countries. Since I was a kid, I always wished to not only travel there, but in the future, to live in London. London is considered to be one of the most remarkable cities around the world, not only for its traditions and places to visit, but also for its history. Friends and family gave us a lot of advice about places to visit.
Despite the number of astonishing sights, the Buckingham Palace and its change of guard, the Palace of Westminster (House of Parliament), Big Ben, the London Eye, the British Museum, and of course, the Tower Bridge over the Thames River were among my favorite, I was fascinated by The London Eye is Europe’s tallest observation wheel. From here, you are able to see some of the most iconic places from London at once, including the Westminster Bridge, the Waterloo Station, Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and also the Jubilee Gardens.
Riding the London Eye was a particular moment of great reflection for me. I was able to have a moment of peace where there was no noise or distractions. Back then, I felt like I was on my own and I thought, “How incredible all this is and how lucky I am to not only be able to see it, but also enjoy it with friends. There are extraordinary things in every corner of our world, and today, I have the chance to see one of them.”
From the beginning, I knew that this trip was going to be a way for me to grow, not only in responsibility and independence, but also in my relationship with my friends. What I took most from the trip was how lucky I was to be able to enjoy those places and how much there is to know in the world. From that moment on, my passion for travel has been forever changed.
