Hello everyone! Now is the time to start reflecting on my experience abroad in London, especially on myself before I even arrived. The lessons learned, experiences shared, and the people I’ve met from one of the greatest experiences of my life is something I would never take back.

First, the ways in which I’ve grown from the experience. I think that coming to London has really taught me the importance of travel and has greatly shaped my perspective on my place in the world. Prior to this trip, my global travel was very minimal and I didn’t have a great understanding of where I sat in terms of the world. However, now that I’ve arrived in London, understanding my position as an American and more-so a citizen of the world has broadened my perspective. Seeing how people of different cultures interact and live alongside each other in such as diverse place as London, especially coming from a small town, has made me realize how I’m part of a whole community, that’s larger than the one that I see every day.

The big thing I wish I knew at the beginning of the experience is how easy international travel actually is. I think I had this preconceived notion that travel abroad would be “challenging” and “bureaucratic”. However, I can say the total opposite is true. I’ve been able to learn how to go through security checks with ease, handle customs & border control in an efficient way, and people abroad are generally very friendly and have a great working proficiency of the english language. Additionally, learning how to be independent in a real way (family and friends are all on another continent) has been a huge learning curve, and its not scary. I’d tell myself that it’ll be extremely easy for the first 3/4 of the time abroad, but at the end missing family and friends becomes a lot and something to push through.

One thing that has most surprised me is how similar we all are, minus the language barriers. Every place that I’ve traveled, I’ve been able to make friends in that area. People are very kind and willing to talk about their lives with me, and share personal recommendations of where to visit in wherever I am at that moment.

I would say that talking to myself pre-trip, I would say also just to try everything and get out of the comfort zone. Travel every weekend (that’s one of the big reasons you’re there) focus on schoolwork, but not too much, and enjoy the journey. Also, enjoy my pictures from my recent trip to Vienna, Austria!

Thanks everyone for reading. I look forward to updating everyone on my last blog post after this! As always, H2P!