When we first arrived in Florence, we thought the memories we would take home would be the obvious ones: the famous landmarks, the weekend trips, and the photos we had spent months imagining. Those moments were incredible, but they were not what defined our experience. Looking back, the memories that mean the most are the ones we never planned for.
Study abroad has a way of reminding you that the experience becomes what you make of it. The best days are not always the ones on your itinerary, and the stories you tell most often are rarely the ones you expected. They come from getting lost in a new city, laughing through mistakes, saying yes to spontaneous plans, and learning how to find comfort in the unfamiliar. Somewhere between the trips, classes, and sightseeing, those small moments become the ones you remember long after you return home.
We still talk about the six-hour bus ride into Albania, where we ended up ordering dinner by pointing at someone else’s plate because we couldn’t understand the menu. We remember the afternoon in Colle di Val d’Elsa when we got the bus schedule wrong and spent two extra hours sitting outside a closed café with nothing to do but people-watch. Neither of those experiences was planned, but both became some of our favorite memories.
The same thing happened in everyday life. We stumbled through conversations in Italian, celebrated familiar foods at the grocery store, and spent plenty of time figuring out simple things that would have felt automatic back home. In the moment, those experiences seemed ordinary. Looking back, they are what made living in another country feel real.
Living together added another layer to the experience. For six weeks, five people had to learn how to share a space, navigate different habits, and adapt to each other. It was not always seamless, but it taught us something important: some of the best parts of study abroad come from the people you experience it with.
One of the best examples of this was a music video our roommates created about the semester. It was never part of any plan. One night, they decided to write and record a song about our experience, mostly as a joke, yet it brought us all together near the end of the program as a way to remember the best parts and reflect on all the funny stuff that had happened.
If there is one thing this experience taught us, it is that studying abroad becomes what you make of it. The trips, museums, and famous sights are amazing, but they are only part of the story. The moments that stay with you are often the unexpected ones: the mistakes, the detours, the conversations, and the people you meet along the way.
For anyone about to begin their own study abroad journey, my advice is simple: enjoy every second. Say yes to opportunities, even when they are not part of your plan. Don’t worry too much about getting everything right. Some of your favorite memories will come from the moments that seem inconvenient, awkward, or completely unremarkable at the time.
We came to Florence expecting to collect a list of places we had seen. Instead, we are left with a collection of stories, inside jokes, and memories that could never have been planned. In the end, those were the moments that mattered most.
Instagram: Our Favorite Places
TikTok:
YouTube: Girlz in Florence
Google Review: ISI Google Review
By: Lucy Bonadeo, Sarah Burns, Kathryn Ullmann, Zoie Turner, and Anika Field