I can’t help but count down the days until a trip is over as soon as it has started. It’s like a looming deadline, impossible to ignore, preconditioning every second of fun with anxiety as I attempt to set the end aside and enjoy myself. It doesn’t matter how long the trip is.
I feel like I never really had this problem in Boston, but studying abroad feels more like a trip than a temporary home. My plane landed, and the countdown began. I vividly remember saying to my new study abroad friends that it was crazy we had been living there for a week already. It’s felt like an eternity since we touched down in the United Kingdom, yet I can’t believe how rapidly the days until my departure are ticking down.
My internship wraps up this week, and my classes are assigning final papers at an alarming rate. I look at my assignments list and the number of weeks I have left here. How can I succeed academically whilst still checking the London sights off my bucket list? I still haven’t seen Abbey Road or the Globe Theatre. What have I been doing all semester?Â
When my days are full of internship tasks, I try my best to make the most of weekends and truly appreciate the time I am spending here. It’s time-consuming work, but I’m doing it in London for a reason, right?
Last weekend, I took a long-awaited trip to Dublin with two of my friends in the programme. I was so afraid that such a short trip to an entirely new place would revive that old travel stress, hyperfixating on the ending. While I hiked along cliffs, pet people’s dogs, ate decadent donuts, admired the weird walk signal sound effect, and tasted (and despised) Guinness, I had to keep reminding myself to stay present. I was in Ireland. And I was loving it.
One of the girls I was traveling with was in a similar boat. We have been commiserating for weeks, prematurely mourning our study abroad departure – and I consider myself lucky to be extending my time abroad via winter holiday travel. It helped to have another person with the same mindset to keep each other accountable. It’s not every day you get to be in Ireland, and we needed to appreciate all the little things that made the trip so special.Â
So, what is my plan to spend my dwindling London days in a productive, happy way rather than a constant state of counting down? The honest answer is, I don’t know. Studying abroad is such a special experience because it’s finite.Â
These last few weeks, I’m going to take lots of pictures, see the city with my friends as much as possible, and take the extra time to appreciate the little things around me.
Every moment counts!
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, watch us on TikTok, and read our latest Tweets!