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After being back home for a full day and sleeping many many hours to catch up with the jet-lag, I'm here to write about my experiences abroad in London and Paris.
It was my first time out of the country, second time out of California and fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth time flying commercially. I was as green as Kevin Federline's accountant at a rodeo wearing a plastic cowboy hat.
The week leading up to my departure, I was scared. I was afraid to leave all that I knew was comfortable, afraid that I wouldn't be able to hack it as a journalist in another country, afraid that I wouldn't like it over there.
That's crazy right? Hell, I'm an award winning reporter with more experience than most of those people on the trip. I've been in the heat of things and I know what it takes to get a good story. But I know that none of that means shit. Excuse my French, (no pun intended... ok a little). But in all honesty, none of that matters. It's what I get done there that counts. Nothing I've won yesterday gets the job done today.
That scared me. I know that every time I go into the field, I have to prove myself over and over again. To let my employers know that I am worth the buck. But to do that in another country was a whole new obstacle to the game. But what sets a good journalist apart, better yet person, is being excited about that obstacle. Like I have said in this very paragraph, it scared me to go, but I was even more excited.
It was a test. It was an adventure. It was an opportunity.
Once I hit the ground in London, all of that fear left me. I was there and nothing was going to change that. In one week's time I would be back in that very airport, and I better have some stories to tell.
Let me tell you one thing, two and half days in London and Paris is not nearly enough. Not even close, but I am so stoked that I went to both. The highlight for me in London was not finding a story, but meeting a pub manager. More or less, he showed me that meeting people across the pond is just as easy as it is back home. It starts with a simple hello, and maybe a drink.
In Paris, seeing all the sites was amazing. The Louvre, Eiffel Tour, Montmartre, Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame were all breathtaking. I saw the Mona Lisa and all the greats like Giotto and Dadi. I don't know if I could pick out one of those experiences as better than another, but one thing they all have in common is that I was able to explore them with an aspiring photojournalist. This young gal has a bright future ahead of her if she continues her path, and was a pleasure to hang out with. But to me the essence of this trip was made clear in Paris.
There was no other way I would have met some of these people that traveled to Paris and London with me. I know for a fact that a lot of those who I shared sleepless nights with, and rubbed elbows with on the tiny airline seats will be more than the person I say the occasional hi to in the hallway. I gained many friends on this trip, and in an industry which has become brutal and cut-throat, having friends could never be more important.
I may not have come home with the "wow" picture or story I was hoping for, but I did come home with that "wow" experience. I made some good friends, and made other relationships even stronger. I would do it again in a heart beat.
