In most of the cases, travelling involves packing your bags and heading to another destination. Doing some background research is what most of us do, and exactly what Katie did once she found out she was visiting Ireland in the summer with her family. This lifelong ambition to visit the Irish green lands didn´t only allow her to get to know a new culture but realize something new about herself as well.
With the help of her neighbors, her family and her started deciding what places they were going to visit, not being quite keen on the typical tourist spots themselves. "My only reference was the band Celtic Thunder, and even then all I knew was that it was a beautiful country and there were mountains." Being less tourist orientated, the West Coast was their main focus, discarding hectic cities such as Dublin and Limerick.
Iowa doesn't really have many ruins, so after getting set in their hotel, Katie and her family visited some of the many local hotspots, such as the Quin and Knappouge Castle. "I have always been interested in medieval times, so seeing a castle in real life for the first time was crazy". However, it was during the second day of their stay she saw one of the first things that provided her with a real essence of the country, located in Derry, near Shepherd´s Steps, the Giant's Causeway awaited her arrival.
The Giant's Causeway is located in County Antrim on the north east coast of Ireland, it is an area of over 40,000 basalt columns caused by an ancient volcanic eruption, with a breathtaking sight of the sea below it. Having taken up geology as an interest at such a young age, it was love at first sight. It´s uniqueness swept her in every craze.
Still, before actually arriving to Derry, their drive implied a short visit to Lough Gill in Sligo, a lake known for its natural environment and cozy scenery. "It really made me understand why people believe in fairytales, it was ethereal".
After visiting the cliffs, they started driving down the country and got a broader perspective about what Ireland was like. Surely, its mountains did not fail to amuse them. The following morning, she and her family visited the place she was most excited about, the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. She came across a couple of German geologists, who encouraged her to continue pursuing her passion about the topic since not many people do so.
During a long drive down the east side, the mountains made Katie realize something she had never thought about so far: moving almost 4,000 miles away from her home back in the states to the place she belonged to.
"This came as quite a surprise to me as I have always planned on staying in Iowa my whole life. However, once I was there, I came to understand that there was nowhere else in the world I that would make me as happy" said herself.
One of their last sightings was a quick visit to Galway for a few days. In the end, they wrapped up their journey going to  the Ring of Kerry, a 179-kilometre-long touristic set of roads destined to connect many attractive viewpoints such as Ross Castle, Gap of Dunloe and Staigue Fort. Not only do these spots offer breathtaking scenes but also take a huge part in Ireland´s both history and modern culture, and finished along the beaches of Rossbeigh. "Overall it was amazing and I'm already doing research on how to move there when I get the chance to".
Unfortunately, dreams don't become reality through magic, it usually takes a lot of effort to achieve those goals we set. These days, Katie is trying to figure out what the next step of her life will be but she isn't really pressed for time; "While I probably won't live there for a while due to conflicts between what I want to do for a living, I really hope I do at some point".
Only time will tell, but we certainly hope to see her in a few years once again at the place where mountains guide the way, the place where cliffs seem infinite, the place where she found herself.
[All photographs were taken by and are property of Katie ( @good-night-space-kid via Tumblr]
