Study abroad ruined my life

I studied abroad in London last spring, and ever since my life has changed. I remember before embarking on my journey students told me how “studying abroad changed [their] lives”, but I never really took them seriously.

I mean, how different could it possibly make your life? Like yeah you go, have a good time, learn some new things and you come back and get in the regular groove of your life, right?

Wrong. So terribly wrong, it hurts.

While I was abroad, I didn’t realize I was changing as a person. My horizons were expanding so much more. I didn’t even realize after I came back either. It hit me when I started college again that fall. I was used to running to catch the tube in the mornings to my class at the Richmond campus. My body had recognized a certain smell and linked it to that particular experience (yes a smell).

Before I knew I was ruining my life

It hit me when I woke up for the first day of classes, and that’s when I knew what those kids who missed being abroad meant. Naturally I dismissed it as a normal syndrome and that it would disappear after a couple of months.

But here I am, a whole year later, longing for my times abroad as much as ever.

I miss the hustle

Every city has a different vibe and the people have a different hustle. I never realized that until I came home to the United States and I couldn’t feel London’s energy all around me. I wasn’t surrounded by a melting pot of accents anymore. Thanks to that, I can’t catch the cleanest public transportation of my life and sit listening to the most cultural experience ever anymore.

Hustle

I miss the food

Man, quite frankly, I lost hella weight when I studied abroad, and I’m pretty sure it’s because I couldn’t afford any food (shout out to Tesco for providing the few things I could afford, love you always). But believe it or not, I miss living on that absurd diet. I remember when my friends and I could literally only ever afford McDonald’s in London but even then, we’d have to be just the right amount of drunk to convince ourselves it was worth it. Thanks to that, I have the potential to be fat because America runs on cheap fast food.

Thank you McDonald’s, for truly making us lose weight

I miss the drinks

I’m not even sure I have to explain this one. My friends and I had mastered this culture until the point where I most definitely came home at 4am one night and wrote a fifteen-page psychology research paper by 8am that same morning. Safe to say, this taught me a life skill. Thanks to that, I don’t see a point in doing my work on time when I know I could be drunk at some party at the Ministry of Sound.

Does this even need a caption?

I miss the culture

In London, markets are common. There are food markets, there are art markets, there’s Camden and there’s Portobello, but don’t even get me started on the parks. The British Royal Parks were such a homely, cozy experience — people were always chatting outside accompanied by dogs and kids, or with friends just having a good time. These things we first saw as attractions soon became the norm by the end of our stay there. Now, I can’t explore random markets at my convenience or call my friends and ask if they want to hang out at a Royal Park.

Only one of the best places ever

You’ll have my heart, Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park

I miss my friends

The friends you make when you’re abroad are the only other people in the world who can seemingly understand your day-to-day struggle. “Did you see the London snapchat live story today? Crying, I can’t even talk about it.” Thanks to that, anytime I travel anywhere I feel like I’m betraying my soul travel buddies.

Love ya crazy people

My study abroad experience ruined my life by making me crave bigger experiences every day. Literally, I look up ways to go back abroad probably on the weekly, and my wanderlust has increased exponentially to the point where I have decided I have two options: get rich so I can travel forever or marry rich so I can travel forever.

Anyway, if you haven’t studied abroad yet, don’t say I didn’t warn you. On the other hand, if you have, GUYS WHAT IN THE WORLD? DOES IT EVER END?