life lessons learned traveling, part viii

 More than seven years ago, I boarded a plane bound for London, England in hopes of having the most amazing time studying abroad for a semester during my sophomore year of college. Any expectation of what I thought it would be like to live…study…travel…eat…drink…sleep…thrive…fall in love in a foreign country was completely exceeded at every single twist and turn of my young 19-year-old experience. From meeting lifelong friends (I’m looking at you Binks !) to getting drunk for the very first time to gawking at Prince William in the flesh in a bar in Scotland, those four months in London remain some of the best of my entire life.

Today, I leave to return to the spot of my very first international travel experience for the third time to watch one of my best friends get married to her lovely British fiancee (yeah, I know…girlfriend is living my dream life). Older. Wiser. With way more drinking stories. But I leave with the same giddy excitement and happy jitters I felt on the plane to England all those years ago.

And I’ll never forget what I learned in London during that maiden voyage: my passion for travel.

Cheerio friends, I’ll be seeing you on the other side of the pond!

***Note: Over the next two weeks, I have guest posts and giveaways scheduled but will be without access to Facebook/Twitter, so check back regularly on the blog to read them. Also, I may try to pop in once or twice with a European update…or two!