What a summer this was. Originally, I had planned this vacation with a close friend from UCLA. However, he bailed last minute, leaving me with a choice: do I drop my plans or go experience them alone? I chose the latter, and I wouldn't change that choice for the world.

I started this journey in Lisbon, Portugal at G-Spot Party Hostel. This was my first ever hostel experience, and it lived up to its name. While in Portugal I met the coolest people, ate the best food, and surfed the most amazing waves. Forever grateful.

From Portugal I flew to Malaga, Spain to meet a friend of mine who was studying abroad there. To be honest, the city was beautiful, but it really smelled like pee. Next, I took the train up to Madrid to meet more friends who were studying abroad. Madrid was stunning; so much culture, so much food, and so much fresh orange juice. From Madrid we took a little weekend jaunt to San Sebastian and stayed at a cute little surf hostel with the best espresso martinis. Finally, I took the most beautiful train ride through mountainous northern Spain to get to Barcelona, where I unfortunately was only able to stay one night before flying to Florence.

Florence, as expected, was unreal. I met more friends who were studying abroad, broke a hostel door, broke a hotel door (I was on a good one), and ate some amazing pizza. Next was Rome, where I met up with the friend I had originally planned this trip with. We ate (at the time) the best pizza of our lives, then made our way down to Naples, where we ate what became (once again) the best pizza of our lives. For our final endeavor in Italy, we rode a moped through beautiful Positano. Next, we flew to the tiny Greek island of Zakynthos.

Zakynthos is known for the beautiful blue waters of Navagio, or Shipwreck Beach, and these waters did not disappoint. This was undoubtedly the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, and maybe ever will see. Next, we flew to Ios, the Greek island where Homer was laid to rest. Ios quickly became my own personal heaven. We had stunning beaches all to ourselves, the most authentic meat I have ever tasted, and explored the entire island on our little ATV. We then finished off our Greek endeavors on Mykonos, and quite literally partied all night.

The last leg of our journey was spent on Croatia, with the most beautiful rocky, forested beaches and the coolest people. This trip was life-changing, and I cannot wait to run it back a few years down the road.