Sam Florio, 2012 New Zealand & Sydney Sustainability student blogger, writes:

What is the most difficult part about going on a trip across the world? Packing everything into only one suitcase. I wish I were kidding. But I know that isn’t going to be the only challenge surrounding a trip to New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. There is so much to do to get ready, and packing for an entirely different season seems so strange! I am lucky. I would like to blame finals for my procrastination on packing, but the most I have done to prepare myself thus far is renew my passport and attempt to get myself ready for a big change.

I’m Sam, about to be a junior at Penn State University. For those of you who don’t know, Penn State is in the city of State College. State College consists of Penn State, farms and farmers. Going from State College to New York city or Philadelphia is a culture shock, let alone going across the world and traveling to a different city almost every day!

I couldn’t be more ecstatic to visit places like New Zealand and Australia, much less fathom the idea of hiking Fox Glacier, swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura or visiting the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. But I get to do just that and more, and I have already gotten to learn about their cultures for an entire semester before departing.

Sam and her kitty Lily

Of course I am going to miss home, mostly my family, friends and my cat Lily. But everyone wants to get away from the speed of the U.S. at some point in his or her life. I have visited other countries before (Spain, London and France), but I was in high school and it was only a two-week trip. The most I learned was how much I absolutely loved food. But the scenery was beautiful. In Spain, everywhere I looked seemed unreal, like a painting. In France, the Eiffel Tower blew my mind. And in London, I stood right outside of Buckingham Palace. I cannot wait to share all of the beautiful scenery and landscapes from two new countries!

This trip is a dream come true, and I will be writing and posting often so that everyone who is bored at home on a hot summer day can live vicariously through me on the other side of the globe, during an entirely different season! Let’s just hope running on the treadmill at the gym a few times a week has me prepared for an eight-hour hike…