So Close, But Still, So Far

So, here I am, blogging about my upcoming semester abroad as per the recommendation of Wellesley OIS. It’s a little unnatural for me to so freely share my thoughts with anyone and everyone, even through the internet, so the first few posts I publish may be a little rough, please bear with me. 

So as of today I’m exactly 2 weeks out from my arrival in Leeds and I am feeling wholly unprepared. I’ve always wanted to travel to England (I mean, my anglophile mother named me after an iconic English author so really I’ve been headed this way for a while), and I’ve always known that I wanted to travel for a semester abroad, none of this was really ever in question in my grand plan, but now that it’s nearly upon me, it all feels a little surreal and vaguely terrifying. 

Perhaps it’s just the thought of solo international travel, which I’ve never done before, or just plain old international travel, which I’ve only ever done once (and 11 years ago at that). So many things can go wrong—in fact, one of my worst fears is losing my luggage and being stuck in a foreign country absolutely unprepared, or having my visa denied when I arrive and not being able to enter said foreign country period. 

I’m going to try not to focus on everything that can go wrong, and instead think about all of the fun and exciting things that I’ll be doing while I’m away! 

So far, the plan is still pretty fuzzy, but I do know that I’ll be heading down to London fairly often to visit my friend Clarissa (hello Clarissa if you’re reading this!), so I’m definitely looking forward to that. Also, my mom’s side of the family is booked to spend a week in Italy in the late fall, so I’m going to head down there to meet them for a weekend and jaunt around Rome (a true dream for a Classics student such as myself). 

Those are the only things that I know I’m doing for sure at the moment, but I have several bucket list destinations in mind, which you can see in purple on the “Track My Travels” page. 

Aside from jetting around Europe, there’s also the Rare Books & Special Collections work that I get to do. In fact, that is the whole reason why I’m going to Leeds in the first place, and it should be really cool and really exciting work (well, for me, but I live for dusty, old tomes, so…). More on that later though.

Devonshire Hall, University of Leeds

Leeds itself looks promising as well. I’m staying in a residence on-campus called “Devonshire Hall”, which looks like a rather grand castle. So that will be a fun and very English experience. 

Although Leeds is no London, it still seems to have its charms. Shopping seems to be really big in Leeds, so I’ll get to purchase some authentically English items I hope. Also, I’m a sucker for lists, so I’m including a fun one that I’ve found on Buzzfeed on “23 Places In Leeds You Must Visit Before You Die”. With any luck, I’ll be able to visit every single one in my 4 months there, as well as explore the Yorkshire countryside, which looks absolutely beautiful! 

Well, that seems sufficient for my very first abroad blog post (well, a pre-abroad blog post, I suppose), so I will keep this updated for friends and family and any other parties interested in my life!