The beautiful city of Warsaw, Poland is the place that made me love traveling.

In June 2014 I was lucky enough to visit Poland for the first time with my dad and his girlfriend, MJ.

My dad’s Polish friend, Marcin, had invited us to explore Warsaw and spend some time at his home in the suburbs, which was incredibly generous.

This trip was a few years ago and sadly I wasn’t keeping a journal at this time so I’ve probably forgotten many details. 

But what I do remember is falling in love with Warsaw and with traveling in general.

Most of the traveling I’d done up to this point had been with family. We usually just revisited countries in Europe where we had spent time growing up.

I’ve always had a fondness for Italy and England since my family lived there for a couple of years and often returned to see old friends.

But visiting Poland was my first time going somewhere completely new.

I knew nothing about the country except a very brief history of WWII.

After a few days there, roaming around with my family and experiencing the hospitality of Marcin, I felt infatuated with learning about a new culture.

I loved the architecture of the modern city center. But I also loved the colorful antiquity of the Old Town.

I loved the beautifully landscaped greenery of the public parks and the heartiness of the local food.

I didn’t love the vodka, because I don’t think I’ll ever really like straight hard alcohol to be honest.

But I did love that the restaurant drink menus had entire pages dedicated solely to the endless types of vodka they carried.

I loved the kindness and the humor of Marcin’s friends and family. They welcomed us into their community and shared great conversations with us.

I loved the restaurant set in an old communist hideaway building. All the decorations and dish titles revolved around the theme of communism.

I tried really hard to learn basic phrases in Polish, and I still remember how to say “I don’t speak Polish” to this day.

After this trip to Poland, I felt this urge to continue traveling.

I wanted to continue learning about new cultures and experiencing them first hand.

This was the first time traveling had really shocked me and broadened my mind to invite space for new histories, languages, and customs.

Though I don’t have a detailed account of my time in Warsaw, I do have this lasting impression that I need to spend my life seeing as much of this fascinating world as possible.

So I have Poland to thank for opening my mind to the importance of travel.

That is how Warsaw changed my life forever.

Before you travel to Poland…

• Visit iVisa.com to see if you need a visa!
• You should also have travel insurance, just in case you have an emergency abroad. Visit Squaremouth Insurance to get the best, affordable travel insurance plans. You can take advantage of their online live chat as well if you have any questions!

For more travel articles about Central/Eastern Europe, check out these links:

6 Things To Do In Berlin, Germany On A Budget

Traveler’s Guide To Budapest, Hungary

Hidden Gems of Budapest

6 Reasons To Visit The Czech Republic

10 Incredible Things To Do In Interlaken, Switzerland