You go about the weeks leading up to your great summer exploration somewhat like a zombie, a really excited zombie deep down, don't get me wrong, but the thought of leaving your family, friends, and people you love so dearly during the heart of the warmest and happiest part of the year makes you feel like your eyes are glazed over and like you just swallowed a rock.

It's this feeling that you carry with you all the way up until you step off of the plane, four thousand miles away from your bed and breathe in that first gasp of air that smells of jet fuel and adventure. And the feeling's gone. That's why you're here.

You're here to see the sun look different. You're here be uncomfortable sitting next to the girl in the burqua on the underground (you can still see them smizing). You're here to learn your way around a city of unhappy people, and make someone new smile every day just because they caught your eye contact. You're here to learn and cry and grow into a person you could have never imagined you'd be.

Going abroad for the summer is hard. But who doesn't want a physical, and emotional, challenge. Everywhere you look while living on your own in another country gives you an edge that someone sitting on the beach in Destin will never have.

I spent a month and a half of my summer living, breathing, working, laughing, eating, not sleeping, and experiencing England, France, and Ireland. And boy, was it life changing. Who would have thought that a southern girl from the beach could pull off working in a giant metropolitan city like London, England (without any major freakouts?!) From my first ride on the underground transportation with a complete stranger, and soon to be best friend (lost for 2 hours, shoutout to you M.) to the last tube ride home from work six weeks and what feels like a lifetime later, local newspaper in hand, listening to a London teenager blast on speaker 'Where is The Love' by the Black Eyed Peas as the whole train sang along instead of scolded, this trip was nothing short of unbelievable.

The thousand-year-old- buildings, the cars, the strange concept of guys wearing really REALLY tight pants, the Harry Potter-esque accent I still catch my inner voice talking in, and all the people I met who touched my heart so deeply will be impossible to ever shake from my memory. London has my heart forever and won me over every day. Being abroad and traveling to different countries on the weekends as easily as we travel to different states really did force me to grow as a person. Having to learn my way around a city so foreign to me in so many ways, all on my own, transformed that basic southern girl into someone who has stories worth telling.

Europe is breathtaking, the Eiffel Tower and the Irish breweries are once in a lifetime sights and tastes, and the rocky beaches of England are nothing like anything I've ever imagined. But its hard not to want to do all of these things with the people you love.

Part of what made my experience so fulfilling was having to fully put my trust in myself, and also in those I left behind for the summer. My friends and family never failed to make sure I felt loved and never felt alone, even from the other side of the planet. My relationships with my parents, my friends, and yes, EVEN my boyfriend, actually grew stronger while I was away. Maybe because you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone? Or maybe because I became more in tune with who I am and how I love after removing myself from my ordinary life. Taking a leap of faith every day with no one there to catch me, made me realize by whom, when and how I personally want and need to be caught. It also made me realize some of my thoughts that can't be said out loud to anyone but a best friend are pretty freakin' hilarious too, especially when they come across in that sticky British accent.

So if you ask me, just GO! Don't think twice about who will care if you're away, or who won't. Don't do it for the Instagram posts or the envy0worthy Snapchat stories. And don't not do it because you're scared. Be fearless and swallow the rock, and just let the feeling go away with time and experience, because the people who matter will be there with you even if they are 6 hours behind you on the clock and in a whole different dimension. It is worth every second, so go! Discover abroad and discover yourself!