As technology grows more and more advanced, as we continue to become closer yet remain distant to each other, the one thing that we will still have is physical company. The act of spending time with other people you either don’t know well or have known your whole life is something that is often taken for granted, especially when we feel that “the ball is in their court.” Seeing someone you care about shouldn’t be a chore, just as much as meeting new people shouldn’t be a hurdle.

Fortunately, I have been able to take my own medicine, as I am currently lying down in the Airbnb that my family found in Peckham, one of the many suburbs of London, England, after having spent a week in central Italy. One of the biggest issues I have with traveling, though, is traveling itself. Sometimes the actual act of doing it can be one of the most stressful and draining things a person could ever do, and two days ago was particularly unbearable.

If you’re going to go to Rome, I highly suggest either not leaving from Rome, or if it’s unavoidable, getting to the airport waaay too early. On a good day, you have to wait in some pretty bad lines. On a bad day, it feels like you are in a fourth-world country. It’s actually the definition of pandemonium: instead of clear lines, everyone just forms this shapeless blob of pushing, screaming, and body odor. Someone’s always trying to cut around you, in front of you, or pass by you, and you just have to accept that. And then you get your luggage checked...

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than when we got to our gate. I could actually feel the stress of the trip on my face, in the muscles that had helped knit my brow for the past four hours. The flight itself was fine, and so was getting through Heathrow, but the cab ride from there to Peckham was bad, too, as it took almost two hours to finally find our place. I know London is a big city, but I was very ready to get out of that car and lie down.

The upside to suffering a truly dreadful trip here is that the time we plan to spend here should (and has been) well worth the hassle. Tomorrow is our last day in London, and then we’re off to Manchester for the remainder of the month. Fingers crossed the train is still running on Tuesday (it wasn’t this morning!). It appears the #Brexit hasn’t hit England too hard on the superficial level, but maybe in Manchester, things will be a little clearer as to “the state of the union.”