There’s been a lot to my first week in Berlin. For instance, when the IES Abroad staff took us to an O2 outlet on Friedrichstraße for German SIM-cards, one of the employees nodded towards our group of confused, tired, and mildly hungry American students. He pleasantly reminded us that they would be able to speak to us in English, politely gesturing us to enter the building.

JFK international airport used to be stressful, but add a pandemic to it and boom! Chaos! It is hard to stay completely distanced from people at the security checkpoint when everyone is trying to get to the same place. I have to repeat that it was stressful, but once you are in you are in! We made it! But not everything is bad about traveling during a pandemic.

Hellooo! If you read my last blog then welcome back. If not, then I’m still happy you’re here :) Today is my first day of classes and my fifth day in Madrid. Since I just got here and the traveling experience is fresh on my mind I figured I’d talk about that, and what my first few days have been like. 

As my departure date for studying abroad in London draws nearer, I have come to realize and appreciate the fine art of packing nearly four months of clothes into a single suitcase and a backpack. As someone who is used to a very quick trip where I can pack 2 or 3 outfits or a road trip where luggage space is no concern, it's been a satisfying challenge to almost scientifically determine exactly which clothing items are worth bringing.

I was more nervous about the airport itself than actually leaving my home country alone to study abroad but my nerves completely overshot my actual experience. Everything went pretty smoothly even with renewed Covid worries and potential bad weather. I took a flight from Indianapolis to Chicago and left from there to Dublin. Before the flight for Dublin, they checked passengers’ vaccination cards, passenger locator forms, and passports. The flight was comfortable and the flight attendants were as gracious as always.

Now that I’ve safely arrived in Paris, I thought it would be a good idea to explain how my travels went. 

The week before departure.

The countdown until I arrive in London is growing smaller and smaller. My body is overwhelmed with curiosity about what this new chapter of my life has to offer. With the last-minute packing, planning, and chaos, it is becoming more real in the fact that I am about to make the move that will take me roughly 3,567 miles from home. 

Three years ago, I would’ve never imagined I was in the place I am now. I never would have thought that I would have lived through a pandemic (still ongoing) and through truly unprecedented times, moved home, went to online school for a year, cried, laughed, met some of my best friends who I know I will have for life, or experienced some of my highest highs and lowest lows. I lost a family member suddenly, I lost some people who I thought were friends, I lost myself for a little bit.

Yet here I am.

Well, I pretty much put off this post until the very last possible moment. Not merely out of procrastination (although I do procrastinate a lot), but more because I wanted my predeparture post to feel as authentic and real as possible, and up until this moment, my trip to Milan felt anything but real.

Seven more days.

One week to get ready, say my goodbyes, and start a new part of my life. 

This countdown is permanently stuck in the back of my mind.

It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up, whenever I am talking to somebody, when I am trying to make plans, it’s everywhere.