Leaving Denver

Welcome to my blog :) Here I will be writing about my experiences as a student living abroad. I am both terrified and excited to finally leave for Sweden. It has been months since I first found out where I would be going abroad; Sweden was not my first choice so I have been a bit skeptical about going. I take full responsibility for not thoroughly researching programs, so I don't know that this is the best fit. At the same time, it's very difficult to complain about having the opportunity to travel and live in a different country for a semester. I think anywhere that I could have gone has something to offer that I wouldn't find in Denver.

Before I get to Sweden, I will first be spending a week in Milan, Italy on my own. This trip to Milan wasn't supposed to be alone; I was planning to meet Katherine and her family where they would be staying in Lake Como, but her Dad wasn't cleared to leave the country due to his health. When I called to try and switch my flight, the travel agent advised that I should go alone and find a cheap place to stay. The thought had crossed my mind, but I didn't seriously consider it until I found out how expensive it would be to switch my flight. I consider myself to be adventurous in some aspects, but I have never done anything even remotely like this completely on my own.

I asked a couple people who I knew were traveling to Italy, but none of our schedules overlapped. I also contacted a few friends who I knew had traveled on their own before and asked advice. One friend recommended hostels, so I checked on Hostelworld for somewhere that was affordable but didn't look too sketchy. I stumbled upon Hostel Ostello Bello by chance, and booked six nights there on a whim. I didn't realize that people don't usually stay in a single hostel for that long, but I was already overwhelmed by the thought of traveling on my own, and I figured I could take day trips if I wanted. I was definitely nervous at the thought of staying in a hostel with and "8 person mixed dorm," but it was cheapest and had received AMAZING reviews online.

The weeks leading up to my departure were very stressful, involving lots of packing and repacking my suitcase, calling in for a week of work (I was accidentally scheduled until 2 days before I left - oops) and numerous goodbyes. I am fairly disorganized, so I kept remembering last minute VERY IMPORTANT things I needed to do, such as figure out my cell phone plan and notify my bank that I would be leaving. Luckily, I got pretty much everything done that I needed to, even though packing was a struggle up until the hour I left for the airport. The day before I left, Madi and I went for a run at Macintosh (our favorite), then drove out to the Vance Brand Airport to watch planes take off and to pick sunflowers. I spent the rest of the day with my family and savored the last time I would be sleeping in my memory foam bed (such a luxury).

Last night, my family drove me to DIA. We said goodbye at the end of one of those long escalator belts; the whole thing was a bit surreal. I only cried for as long as it took me to get midway through security, then I was fine. I ran into Tamara's dad while going through security (by recognizing his last name) which was extremely random but kind of comforting. The flight went well - I didn't sleep much, but the nine hours went very quickly.

Once I arrived to London I think leaving hit me a bit harder. I sat in the prayer and worship room of the airport for a bit, just to calm myself for my six hour layover. I think so far my least favorite part of traveling alone is not having anyone to watch my things. I want to go wander around, but any time I go anywhere, I have to carry everything with me and my backpack is extremely heavy. On the bright side, I feel much more accomplished reaching places on my own.

I'm a bit worried about safety getting to my hostel. Brian gave me advice that when I get to a new place, I should sit down somewhere, take deep breaths, and just observe my surroundings. I think the most important part of traveling on my own is that I stay calm.

Currently, I am sitting by a large window drinking a mocha (which I looked clueless trying to purchase with pounds and pence - ha). I have about four hours until my connecting flight to Milan!