Deciding to go to Paris solo wasn’t an entirely spur of the moment decision, even though it sure felt like it was when I hit the purchase button on $700 airfare (😬).


I’ve daydreamed about booking tickets to France since I was an underclassman — if you don’t believe me, here’s the evidence. There are only two reasons I bitched out of hitting the purchase button for so long.
One, underclassman Uma was not rich enough (on her own) to book tickets out of the continent on a whim. I’m proud to say that is no longer the case.
Two (inhales.)
I spent a lot of freshman and sophomore year really fucking unhappy. Many unfortunate things happened in my life between the pandemic and starting college, and I was resentful about having to stay close to where the-year-that-shall-not-be-referenced transpired. So a lot of my desire for reckless adventure stemmed from the fact that I hated existing on UNC’s campus 99.9% of the time.
For a number of reasons, I decided junior year I wanted things to change. So I chose to invest in myself by getting a therapist, going out with my friends and “self-care” (read: justification for buying the overpriced oatmilk latte.) My efforts worked so well that by the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, I was more nervous than excited about moving to Dallas, Texas, for three months as an intern with The Dallas Morning News.
TL;DR: I got too comfortable and needed to remind myself that more exists in the world than just the UNC North Campus.
Being happy with where you are while simultaneously wanting more is a delicate balance, I’ve learned as a barely 20-something. I want to be happy. I just also never want to lose my zest for doing crazy shit.
And as long as I have money, my passport and a ‘lil support, all I need is to muster up some will. Or this is all just me trying to rationalize spending $1,000 on a trip to Paris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKsxPW6i3pM