Haven't Even Left Yet

Decided as a (previous) writing major, it only made sense to create blog to keep track of my adventures in Europe. And if no one ends up reading it, at least it gives me time to make sure I'm really taking in everything (I hope) I will see.

But right now, I'm not reflecting on the new things I will be seeing, but the familiar things I'm leaving behind.

To my sister,

Thank you for being my pillar, my punching bag, my fountain of often unsolicited, but genuinely helpful advice. Thank you for being anxious enough for the both of us. Thank you for lending me money you didn't necessarily have and for accepting the angst you didn't necessarily deserve. Doing four months of life without you will be one of the hardest parts of this experience, but expect me on your couch the first Bachelorette Monday of summer.


To my parents (and grandparents),

I can't imagine how nerve wracking it must be to send a child (especially one as awesome and irreplaceable as me) to a foreign country. By this point I just reflexively nod my head to the redundant, "Please be careful", but please know, I will. Trust that after 19 years, you have raised me to be money conscious, to be aware of my surroundings, to not trust people who I don't know (or people who don't like dogs). I will travel in groups and treat my passport like it's an extra limb. I will always stay with my friends (not a lie). Thank you for the opportunity to show Europe what a kick-ass job American parents did at raising a kid, and more importantly for the opportunity to see the world. I'm eternally grateful to you and I won't take it for granted.

To my friends,

This one is pretty generic. I'll miss you guys. If we really are friends, I've already said something sappy to you, or I'm texting you right this minute whining about how nervous I am. And if I haven't done that, we probably aren't that good of friends, but I'll miss you anyway.

Now I'm going to close my computer and lay awake for hours, thinking of all the things I definitely forgot to do. This time tomorrow...I will be sitting in the Cincinnati airport. But this time in two days...I will be across the world living my dream of seeing, well, pretty much anything.