Ever since I was a baby, I have travelled with my family. At first it was just me and my older brother, my mom would travel all the way from Chile to India , holding my brother with one hand and carrying me with the other. We’ve been on relaxing trips to the Caribbean and Italy, to adventurous ones in China and Malasya. It has always been fun but chaotic at the same time, we are no strangers to missing flights, losing bagagge and even getting deported from India.

For my March break this year my family including my grandma and uncle, came to visit me. My older brother was the only one missing though but we were still a big group of 7. Let’s just say travelling with 6 other people ranging from ages 10 to  70 was a bit of a challenge.

We were together for only 8 days and  visited Madrid and Paris. I met them at Barajas Airport were it turned into a bit of a sobfest as my little sister, my mom and I were all crying and hugging of happiness.

In Madrid I booked us an apartment in the city centre with Airbnb, which I highly recommend when you are travelling with a big group of people

The difference between this family trip and all the previous ones we have taken was that my parents passed the baton to me and I had to call the shots. Where to go, how to get there, and what to do was all up to me.

At times it was stressfull, waiting for my mom and grandma outside every single souvenier shop they saw, getting up super early so that my little brother could go shopping in Paris and taking a million pictures until everyone was happy about them.

But all in all we had a great time together. Having my grandma fulfill her dream of visiting the Versaille Palace, making my mom proud with my french skills (it’s not amazing, but it doesn’t suck either). Im so thankful for being able to share a part of my exchange experience with the whole gang .

To my family, I love you.