Backpacking across Europe sounds like a soul-searching dream for most. But for Emily Bacon, it was an internal pull.

Bacon, a freshman acting major, took a leap of faith and solo backpacked through 17 countries in 38 days. It began with a graduation gift in the form of a Euro-Rail pass to explore Frankfurt, Germany, with her best friend and the seven surrounding countries. She said she realized, however, the future is too fickle to let fate decide whether she’d experience world culture in such an immersive way.

As an aspiring actress, she said there is no way to know where she will be in the next decade or so. Without telling her parents, Bacon decided to go on the adventure while she could.

Sleeping on night trains instead of in hostels, Bacon saved daylight and delved into each destination without the convenience of a hotel room. Barcelona, Spain; Serbia; Budapest, Hungary; France — each location had beauty and community that boosted Bacon’s confidence in humanity, she said.

Originally from the West Coast, Bacon is an avid traveler and highly recommends that everyone see the world themselves. She said that any person given this opportunity should be brave, use common sense and go for it.

After returning to the United States, Bacon was unsure of how to tell her parents about her summer. Her personal promise is to tell them by graduation. To combine her love for theater and respect for her parents, Bacon is currently writing a play based on journal entries from her European excursion.

“I read from the journals and began to cry,” Bacon said. “It was just so unbelievable that this actually happened. It was real.”

Though it is a secret to her parents, Bacon plans to elaborately reveal her experience to them by self-producing and starring in this play her senior year. The working title of the comedy based on her life is, “Dear Mom and Dad: Confessions of a World Traveler.”

Said Bacon: “This is such a huge part of who I am and what I stand for. By piecing it together, it developed into this.”

Published on April 18, 2016 at 12:01 am

Contact: ghhughes@syr.edu