Find Your Eiffel Tower: A Lesson in Perseverance and Bold Choices
Years ago, I was a 20-year-old art student standing in a chaotic train station in Rome, desperate to see Paris. My friend and I strategized as best we could—there was a train strike, and the route to Paris was blocked. The furthest we could get was Milan, and from there… who knew? Frustrated, my friend threw in the towel and headed back to our apartment.
But I couldn’t let it go. Paris was calling.
Armed with $200, blind hope, and zero backup plan, I boarded a train to Milan.
Lost in Milan
I arrived late at night, exhausted and unsure where to go. With no international cell phone and only a dog-eared travel book to guide me, I flagged down a taxi and used a mix of broken Italian and frantic pointing to find a hostel.
One by one, every hostel was closed.
The taxi driver, a middle-aged man with kind eyes, seemed as unsure as I was. Finally, after our halting attempts at communication, we landed on a solution: the safest place for me to spend the night was the airport.
I reached for my wallet, but he stopped me.
“No, signorina, va bene.”
Stunned by his kindness, I thanked him—profusely—and stepped into the empty halls of the Milan airport, where I curled up on a bench and barely slept, clutching my bags.
The Final Stretch to Paris
At sunrise, I used nearly all my remaining money to catch a short flight to Paris. I arrived in the city of my dreams—tired, cold, broke, and carrying my entire weekend’s wardrobe on my shoulders. I walked miles from the airport to the city, checked into a hostel, and immediately crashed.
When I woke, I scraped together a breakfast of plain yogurt and stolen jam packets from the hostel. With no money to spare on museum tickets or extravagant meals, I spent the day wandering the streets, taking in the beauty of Paris for free.
That evening, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower.
I checked my bank account. Just enough for a ticket to climb the tower—but it would leave me with almost nothing. I sighed, turned away, and began to walk back toward my hostel.
Then, something made me stop.
I turned for one last look. And in that moment, without warning, the Eiffel Tower lit up, sparkling against the night sky.
It was breathtaking.
And suddenly, every hunger pang, every aching blister, and every moment of uncertainty had been worth it.
Find Your Eiffel Tower
In life, in careers, in goal setting—there will be train strikes, closed doors, and sleepless nights on metaphorical (or literal) airport benches. The road to what you truly want will not always be clear, and sometimes, the only thing pushing you forward will be sheer determination.
But when you get there, when you finally stand in front of the thing you’ve fought for, you’ll realize—it was worth it.
So, find your Eiffel Tower.
Find the goal that’s worth pushing past obstacles, discomfort, and doubt. Pursue the dream that lights up your world in an unexpected, magical way.
And when the journey gets hard, remember: the best views often come after the toughest climbs.
