I usually hate hearing about people’s summer vacations. I really do. Although there are exceptions, unless something ridiculously and unmistakably exciting happened, I’m sure most of us really would prefer not to listen to our peers blab on about the exotic island they went to over the summer or the week-long road trip they had to take with their grandma.

However, to be entirely hypocritical, I took a trip this summer that literally changed my outlook on life. So if you’re reading this, I am neither trying to bore you with the details of my vacation, nor bragging about the fantastic experience I had. With that being said, the week I spent on the cruise ship was most assuredly the highlight of my summer, if not my year.

We embarked in Seattle, Washington on a rainy day – quite the shocker for Seattle. Truth be told, I was not terribly excited at first. It was an Alaskan cruise which typically does not spark as much excitement as would a Caribbean cruise, especially to a teenage girl. The boarding process was long and tedious, and the lowering temperature and its accompanying drizzle were not helping my mood. However, the moment we stepped onto the ship everything changed.

For starters, there was a noticeable difference in the atmosphere onboard. There was a bustle about the entire ship and its crew that triggered some sort of unconscious excitement in all of the passengers. Every time a new person would step foot onto the massive ship, ready to get away from it all, there would be a crew member standing right there with an encouraging smile, eager to help in anyway possible. We were boarding the ship at the same time as the Women’s Soccer World Cup finals game was occurring, so naturally as the avid soccer fans we are, my family fervently asked where the closest TV was so we could watch the game. The crew member smiled and kindly directed us straight ahead to one of the main lounges, festively called the Blue Lagoon. It only took us about five seconds to realize what all the commotion was about; located before us was a humungous room with about 150 people cheering, clapping, laughing, greeting one another, and all fixated on one thing: a 2-story television screen where the final game was being broadcast. The sheer excitement of the room alone was enough to get anyone feeling pumped. It was at that very moment I knew it was going to be a good week.

Although the U.S. lost that game, the excitement didn’t stop from there. I found my way up to the teen center where I was greeted by some friendly faces, most of whom instantly became my very close friends throughout the week. We spent on average 7-8 hours a day together, if not more. And looking back, every single minute of that time I spent with those people, I was smiling. It was the most genuine, kindhearted, and fun-loving group of people I have met to this day. We all came from different places around the world and had a versatile array of personalities, but if you put a great group of people together and factor in an unlimited amount of free food, plenty of fun games and activities, two giant pools and hot-tubs, an entire sports court, and – oh yeah – a cruise ship, its pretty much a formula for a guaranteed good time.

Being aboard the ship wasn’t the only time there were opportunities for fun. My family had wonderful shore excursions planned for the stops we made in Alaska and Canada. We went whale-watching on a boat in the middle of the exquisitely serene and beautiful Alaskan waters, where we were able to see real humpbacks jumping through the air and back into the water less than 100 yards away. We went on a train ride through the incredible mountains of Skagway, a tour that provided an entirely different perspective on the world. Our ship sailed right through Glacier Bay off the Gulf of Alaska where some of the world’s most awe-inspiring glaciers sit, gleaming in the sun. We even went on a zip-line and ropes course through the trees in the perfect 60 degree weather. It was a combination of all of these moments that left me speechless, and boundlessly thankful for every opportunity for adventure.

Here’s the thing about the life I was living – it wasn’t mine. Who is this enthusiastic voyager out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, what only seemed yards away from the immeasurable, breathtaking beauty of a glacier? Who is this gregarious youngster who now has connections and life-long friends from all over the world? Who was this girl who for seven days put aside the cell-phone, the internet, the chores, the iPod, the teenage drama, the TV; the everyday distractions of a life not uncommon to many, only to have an abundance of experiences that to this day keep me up at night, longing to relive. Surely it wasn’t my life, but I thank my lucky stars that I was the one living it.

The freedom the cruise lifestyle promotes is really what enamored me. The proximity of family, friends, food, fun, and the choice to opt from the aforesaid was the addiction and backbone of amazing experiences that left me with a broken, yet wildly richer heart when the time came to leave. And while it would be ridiculous to take a biblical stance on this experience and organize all the events in my life by either pre-cruise or post-cruise, it really was that much of a defining experience in who I am. I now want to see the world in a way that makes me ache every day when I look out the window to the same old Texas plains I’ve been seeing for as long as I can remember. I want to travel and meet new people because it turns out, there is an incredibly abundant amount of fascinating people in this world. There are also an innumerable amount of beautiful places. And with those come an infinite number of experiences waiting to happen.

Shout out to my dad for making such a remarkable week possible, and to my newfound friends around the globe who served as the meat and potatoes of my life-changing experience. It was a week to remember, and a collection of stories I’ll never hesitate to tell.