Last week I blogged pieces from my European backpacking trip and if you’re back for more YOU ROCK. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about go catch Part One here… we’ll wait. :)

The second half of our travels were a bit less eventful than some of the dramaaa you caught in Part One and for that I’m really thankful! We hit Rome, Positano, and a teeny little town called Mürren, Switzerland that ended up being our FAVE of all. It was a breath of fresh air (literally) and we lovedlovedloved walking in the middle of the streets without Italian cars beeping at us. Upon arrival, the locals told us to “walk about five minutes down that way and your hotel’s on the left” and after navigating so many complex European cities we questioned if that was really all the directions we needed to know…?! But as we started walking we realized just what they meant.

BUT I’m getting ahead of myself…

20 THINGS A BACKPACKER SHOULD KNOW (PART TWO)

13) Positano is a utopia where your only concern is whether you still have nutella remnants on your face from breakfast. #positanoprobs

15) Fabreeze is a really great thing, a hair-straightener actually does double as a clothing iron, and one travel toothpaste is not enough for 19 dayzzz. Remember this.

16) Consider packing a bag of candy to hand out to every angel person who stops to help you with directions throughout your trip. Kinda kidding but not really… wish we had.

14) Celebrating your 20th bday on a private boat in Italy with one of your BFF’s is the best/worst thing because you realize no birthday will ever ever come close to topping it (Hey, feel free to not knock on wood for me though hehe). Good thing we took lots of pics cause it was a *DAY TO REMEMBER*

17) If you’re going to walk two miles in the heat of the day to see Trevi Fountain in Rome, double check that it’s not under construction. You’re welcome.

18) Switzerland is the literal dream slash the most expensive of all (understandably cause again, DREAM…) so better start your retirement fund early… and working on your The Hills are Alive solo. Being surrounded in such an unreal, magnificent setting leaves me completely in awe of God’s glory in creation. I’ll let the pics speak for themselves…

19) Please note: sandals are apparently not the Official Switzerland Recommended Mountain Hiking Shoe. Embrace the giggling and pointing at your shoe selection on the cable car ride up cause just when you think you’re a hardcore backpacker, 65 year old Swiss women are sure to put you in your place.

20) Carrying 45 pounds on your back through European streets for multiple hours is like someone asking you to say the alphabet backwards… nearly impossible, strenuous, and not fun. You know what, scratch that, it’s almost like you asking yourself to say the alphabet backwards because you’re the one who packed so.many.things so ya kinda brought it upon yourself… (For the record I do not regret one article of clothing I packed, no I do not!)

Needless to say my back kinda hurts just looking at backpack pics… (BUT WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID IT !!) These are the gems that did not make their way onto our insta-feeds so consider yourselves the lucky ones to see an unfiltered peek into the real + raw *glam* *travel* *life* :

We left Europe with the biggest smiles (s/o to Vanessa for not letting my nostalgia take over and making me actually board the plane home) and grateful hearts and I’m still just feeling so thankful for God’s protection and provision that was so clearly behind every moment of our trip.

Now before I call that a wrap, I believe a few cheesy thank you’s are in order…

To Vanessa… who made every second 10x better and is the most ideal travel buddy to exist in every single way. Glad we’re still such great friends and didn’t got annoyed with each other even ONCE (believe it people you can cross reference here) and never even ran out of things to talk about after 19 days (should we be proud or embarrassed by that idk). So thankful to have the greatest friend to experience it all/miss it every day with!! <3 To our precious prayer-warrior parents who shared a group message all while we were gone (AWH)… love ya big time. :) To all the people that were so genuinely excited for us! Man that was such a big blessing to feel so supported by friends and fam!!! We're so grateful to God for protecting us, putting people in our path to guide us through every stressful situation, and for enabling us to experience this trip of a lifetime! What better way to end all this sappiness than with the second Europe video that Vanessa made (again, top notch travel buddy... I'm telling you)! THANKS FOR READING!!