Settling into this new semester brings about a burning nostalgia for my European summer adventure.

A month later, nothing back in Maryland feels adequate anymore. Now, I miss European cafe-culture anytime I’m in line getting a mediocre latte and an overpriced pastry.

It seems two other University of Maryland students shared a similar experience, romanticizing a Euro-summer escape.

Orli Ospital, a freshman theater and psychology major, found herself most charmed by the “gorgeously made” historic architecture in European countries. She compared their historic everyday buildings to overly modernized landscapes in the United States.

I also miss walking everywhere, for both my health and the environment. Helena Barros Checcucci, a freshman psychology major on the pre-med track, lived in Belgium and has an appreciation for the city’s environmental awareness.  Brussels’ annual car-free day is an example of this initiative. Bikers, public transit users, and others in walkers put American highway culture to shame.

Checcucci also noted that even outdoor markets crowd the streets. Ospital said she enjoyed her lack of physical discomfort and freedom to eat anything she desired while abroad.

But I have to remind myself of all the times I wished I was back home. Now that I remember, it was a lot.

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Ospital said she had family in France, but she still felt dismissed by locals when she was there. I experienced similar attitudes in Portugal and Spain, plagued by awkward staring and nonconsensual games of bumper cars.

Checcucci said “literally every corner” in Europe was polluted with the omnipresent cloud of cigarette smoke. At a certain point in my trip, I felt that people would bump past or cut in front of me simply to fumigate me with their cigarette smoke.

Yet, I thought the Europeans had something I didn’t. The grass seemed greener, which was why I booked the plane ticket, why so many of us do.

It feels like Europe has become a playground for many repressed young people from the United States. It’s whimsical and “romanticized”, Ospital said.

“Everyone’s taking pictures of the pretty parts of Europe and everything, but no one’s talking about the terrible politics that are happening in France right now and other terrible things across Europe,” Ospital said. “Europe is so romanticized because [people] only take pictures of the perfect things in Europe.”

While this is the case with any travel destination, accessibility truly allowed the pendulum to swing in the European countries’ favor.

Checcucci also said an American value was the need for convenience.

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Simply put, if you want your coffee fast, you will inevitably get watered-down sugar milk. Checcucci said Americans are entranced by this convenience.

Sacrificing quality for convenience is uncommon in most European countries, Checcucci said. She explained that their culture makes it easier to find bakeries and other amenities.

Ospital’s family pre-plans every travel trip, and she equates success with that same attitude.

“If you want that cute coffee shop, you have to look it up, you have to find it, you have to search for it,” Ospital said. You aren’t just going to find the cutest coffee shop just by walking down the street in Europe, in DC or wherever.”

When thinking of all the European characteristics that charm us, at first it seemed that it added up to a looming superiority. Coming home to the university’s e-scooters and syllabi, Ospital tries to romanticize doing her homework and scented diffuser as daily highlights.

Checcucci enjoys American football for the spirit more than the game. Her European friends romanticise her tailgate Instagram posts, Checcucci added, and she still laughs with her friends who comment about living the American life.

“Europe romanticizes America, so so much,” Ospital said. That includes yellow school buses to cheerleaders.

Coming back home and forming my routines again, I find that the answer to quench escapism is effort and patience. Though I am still a fan of a good vacation, I must begin my search for my favorite local cafe.