WHERE NEXT, LEX?
Campbell alumna credits her first Study Abroad trip as a sophomore with sparking her passion for world travel
By Billy Liggett
Lexie Weidner stepped off the plane in Frankfurt, Germany, ready to embark on a four-month study abroad stint in a new (to her) country to learn a new (to her) language.
She was met with chaos.
It was 2016, and Weidner — a 19-year-old sophomore at Campbell University at the time — hadn’t properly prepared for the bustling city’s public transportation system. International data plans for her cell phone were iffy then, and Weidner had to rely on her wits to get her to her host family’s home. She got on the wrong train, had to double back and eventually sought out a nearby police station to put her on the right path. A trip that should have taken less than an hour took more than three.
“I think most people would have panicked in that situation,” Weidner says, recalling the trip a decade later. “But me, I loved that I was forced to figure this out on my own. I loved that I couldn’t understand what everyone was saying, because I was curious. I loved the chaos.”
That first trip had a profound impact on Weidner, a name of upstate New York who came to Campbell to study communications and marketing. Born from it was a goal to visit 30 countries before she turned 30 — a goal she has since accomplished — and eventually the idea to start a website chronicling her journeys and offering tips and guides for trip planners.
Through wherenextwithlex.com, Weidner shares “itineraries, hidden gems, where to stay and more,” and what began as more of a blog site has blossomed into a handy tool for others ready to venture out into the unknown.
Thinking back on her stay in Frankfurt — the first of two Study Abroad trips to Germany during her four years in Buies Creek — Weidner says the early problem solving and adapting to new surroundings eventually gave her the courage to venture out more.
She spent a long weekend in the United Kingdom, this time exploring without having a host family to rely on. By the time she returned to North Carolina at the end of her semester in Europe, she had the bug. She needed to see more.
“Nothing felt like enough,” she says. “It was always, ‘Where next? What’s next? Where can I go again? How can I sneak in another weekend trip? Maybe I’ll have enough money if I just eat sandwiches this week.’
“I just never wanted to stop exploring.”
Weidner’s inquisitiveness was evident in her decision to attend Campbell University. A native of Ogdensburg in upstate New York — where she says “travel” meant crossing the water into Canada or, if you’re lucky, spring break in Florida — she excelled at soccer and basketball and was getting looks from local Division II colleges to play at the next level. But Weidner wanted to “reject familiarity” and look for far-away schools that offered a change of scenery.
She discovered Campbell during her college search and fell in love with both the campus and the idea that she was heading off into the unknown, at least to her.
“My parents were pretty against it at the time, but they were supportive and helped me pack and move,” she says. “Now they’ll say it’s one of the best decisions I could have made for myself.”
One of the first classes she enrolled in at Campbell was German. Her great-grandparents are from Germany, and she was always curious when they would speak in German to each other. Her professor suggested Weidner visit Germany to really immerse herself in the culture and, in turn, better learn the language. She made a beeline to former Global Engagement Coordinator Kendra Granger and expressed interest in spending a semester in Europe through one of Campbell’s several partnerships with programs that offer long-term educational opportunities.
Weidner was dismayed to learn that such trips were frowned upon for sophomores, but she persisted. Granger presented a list of what she had to do to make a spring trip possible that year, and Weidner worked hard to make it happen.
“The moment I got back to the U.S. after those four months, there was no question of ‘If I ever do that again … It was just a matter of when.”
Her second Study Abroad trip during her senior year brought her back to Germany, where she visited fairy tale-esque castles and centuries-old towns. Since those two trips, she’s returned to Europe several times (including for her wedding in Italy). She says she’s captivated by “fleeting conversations with strangers, the smells drifting from shop windows, unfamiliar flavors and the constant feeling of learning something new.”
After Campbell, she set a goal to visit 30 countries in total before she turned 30 (a goal she hit in April with her first trip to Japan). Her favorites have been Iceland and Switzerland, specifically the Jungfrau region, which she calls one of the most spectacular places on Earth — “I’ve truly never witnessed panoramic views that take my breath away in every direction,” she wrote on her site.
The many mistakes she made during her early travels — such as the time she unintentionally canceled a flight (while rebooking another one) that would have caused her to miss another plane home — inspired her to create her website, which not only provides the “where to go” advice but also features “things I wished I had known” blog entries and “things you must bring” for certain destinations. She has monetized the site by taking on an influencer role with links to her favorite “must have” travel items.
“The site started as a diary,” she says, “because I felt like I was bombarding people with photos on Instagram, and I wanted a separate place for all of this. I wanted to write down all the things I experienced and just have it somewhere so my family and friends could read it. Then about five years ago, I realized I could do more with it.
“I’ve made so many mistakes. My first trip to Rome was just terrible. I don’t want someone to make those same mistakes I did. I want them to go to Rome and love it.”
Weidner and her husband, Justin Cook, currently live in Colorado, where she works in talent acquisition for a company based in Denver. She hopes to be able to take on the website full time in the near future.
Posed with the relevant question of where next?, Weidner says she has two short trips coming up that will take her to London and to the Carribbean. What’s planned after that is anybody’s guess, and that is part of the excitement, she says.
“Traveling has become my passion, and if I get to motivate others to get out and travel — in whatever form that is — that’s my goal,” she says.