This upcoming fall, I will be traveling to London to study abroad. When I was in high school and I started looking at colleges, I knew that one of the main things I wanted the school to have was a good study abroad program. And if you know me, you know that this is something I have wanted to for a long time. In fact, I switched my major half way through my sophomore year because the other program did not have a study abroad program in London.
This is something I have been looking forward to since I was accepted. I Google the best places to visit in Europe, how to pack for three months in a single suitcase, best-hidden treasures of Europe and more on a daily basis. I am full of mixed emotions and feelings as I prepare to travel in just a few short weeks. I am excited to be there for three months and travel throughout Europe and explore these amazing places. I am sad to be leaving my family, boyfriend, JMU and my friends. But I can tell you one feeling that I do not want to feel - nervous or anxious. Yet that seems to be the only thing that anyone wants to instill in me.
Here is a newsflash for everyone who wants to do that. I am fully aware of the threats and attacks that have taken place in Europe. I do not need to be reminded of it every time we have a conversation about my travels. I do read the news and I am not an oblivious millennial who only cares about tweeting and sharing videos of cute animals. I know what is happening in Europe and yes it is in the back of my mind, but it is something I try not to think of.
I live on Long Island. I travel to New York City whenever I want. I have been to numerous concerts, museums, hotels and trips to Time Square and Rockefeller Center during the busiest times of the year and during times when the city is on high threat or terror alert, which is most of the time. I know many people who have questioned me going to London have traveled into the city without a second thought. If you pay attention to the news like you say you do, you would know that there have been numerous attacks in the United States, where you live. There are threats made every day in places all over the world.
So I am asking, PLEASE, please do not have a conversation with me about how worried you are about my travels to Europe. I know you only mean the best and are looking out for me. I know you care and are concerned and I appreciate it but I do not want to be thinking about it. Instead, ask me about what I am going to do during my time there. Ask me where I plan to travel on my free weekends. Ask me about my internship. Give me advice if you have been to Europe before. Give me confidence that I am going to have one of the greatest experiences of my life.
(P.S. You cannot live your life fully if you are living in fear. So put your fears away and get out there and do what you have always wanted to.)
