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Adventures Abroad

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Going abroad is all about taking risks and leaving your comfort zone. My favorite part of being abroad was going on adventures and exploring new places. Being in Sydney, there were a ton of places to see in the city which was great. But one weekend, a friend and I decided we wanted to get out of the city and after a few quick searches on Pinterest, we found a place called Jenolan Caves that was about two hours outside of the city. The pictures looked beautiful and it was described as a must see for visitors to the Blue Mountains but we had no idea what kind of adventure we were setting ourselves up for. We spent hours trying to figure out how to get there on public transportation, what hours they were open, and how to book a tour of the caves. We finally had a plan and the next day we got up at 6am, walked to the train station and began our adventure. We needed to take three trains to get to a bus that would bring us to the caves. This is when the craziness started. Our second train was late, which meant we missed the third train. If we took the next train, we would have missed the bus by an hour. So we looked at all the different routes we could try to get to the bus on time but none of them would work. Defeated, we called the bus people and they told us they we could try and reschedule for a different day later in the week. We did that and headed to Sydney Olympic park, because what else would we do? A few days later we tried again and made it to the caves. After 5 hours on public transportation, we arrived at the caves and we were greeted by some of the most magnificent sights we had ever seen. We spent hours hiking through the cave where we saw giant rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites galore. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, we walked through the darkness, breathed in air that was fresh and earthy and listened to the eerie quiet while reflecting and appreciating the beauty of what was around us when the lights were on. The trouble we went through to get there made the experience that much more rewarding. IFSA- Butler encourages you to take chances, go on adventures, and explore your host country. This is one of my favorite memories from being abroad because it taught me to stand up for myself and not give up. It taught me that if I want something, to go for it. And it taught me that life is too short to not get the chance to experience some of what our amazing world has to offer.