Immediately when I stepped off my British Airways flight, I had this overpowering urge to tell everyone and their mother that I spent four months studying and interning in London. It's a phenomenon — once you spend a semester abroad, you want to tell everyone about it. For the first month, it was like word vomit or an outer body experience.
As if some annoying valley girl possessed me and couldn't stop talking about the drinking culture in London. I was "triggered" by everything that was remotely British and I couldn't help but tell everyone. I was the embodiment of Benito Skinner's YouTube video "People after going abroad." For those who have studied abroad, you know the feeling of wanting nothing more than to share your stories with others because it brings you a bit closer to re-experiencing the best months of your life. But for those who haven't, let me give you some insight as to why we are so damn annoying.
First and foremost, let's get one thing clear: Post-abroad depression is real.
I wanted nothing more than to stay in my apartment with my amazing roommates and see my best friends every day who lived just down the hall. When I came back to Orlando, it was just a painful reminder I wasn't in the city I fell in love with. I wasn't ready to leave the city where I saw breathtaking, historical sites on my commute to class and school. I hated parting with the nightlife where drinking was not that big of a deal and I could dance and kiss cute British boys on a weekly basis. I didn't want to say goodbye to my second home that helped me finally be independent and feel secure. And most importantly, I didn't want to separate from the lifelong friends I made.
It's hard not talking about the best four months of your life, so give us a break. Especially because we were just there for four months. I have no recent stories to share except for spending my 21st birthday in Rome, traveling to Paris by myself or getting the flu in Dublin but seeing the Cliffs of Moher anyway.
However, I will say this, it does not give me, or any other person who has traveled abroad, permission to sound like a pretentious A-Hole all the time.
I realized the more and more I talked about London, the more and more I was mourning the end of an era. But I also realized the more I did this, the more I was turning into every meme out there that made fun of people in my exact predicament. I might as well have bought a blonde wig, grab a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and fully transform into the stereotype Benito Skinner was making fun of — I was saying his words almost verbatim. The video is hilarious because it's so accurate, but I'd rather not come across as this pompous girl who's traveled Europe.
So, people who have traveled abroad, I have figured out how to stop the overwhelming sensation to talk about how you don't remember Amsterdam: embrace your experience, but be aware of your audience.
Not everyone has had the privilege to travel. Be conscientious of the people who were working their nine to five job while you casually visited museums after class. Realize that your friends are tired of hearing your unprompted stories that they can't relate to because they were missing you the entire time when you weren't in LIT 328. Instead, reminisce with the other people in your study abroad program. Cry, scream, vent or talk about how much you miss proper Guinness so you can finally get it off your chest. And if you feel the need to tell a story, make sure the story is relevant and not for the hell of it. Also, slow down on the social media.
Everyone is tired of seeing how you posed three different ways on a random rock on some beach in Barcelona — Sorry, I mean "Barthelona."
Disclaimer for the people who have to endure the incessant stories: keep in mind, we were there for four months. It may not seem like a long time to you, but to go to a different country alone and be completely immersed in a new culture makes it seem like a lifetime. So I am sorry, but you are bound to hear about "that one pub that had '90s night where I kissed that one British dude." It's not like we don't get bored over your same frat party story.
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