I come from a very close knit family. We take holidays pretty seriously and really capitalize on all of the family bonding. I’m talking parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins; the whole shebang. We get together for a meal, share stories, and update each other on our lives. Typical family time holiday things. I love the time I get to spend with them because it doesn’t happen often enough.

This year was different though. This year a friend of mine from school asked me a couple months ago if I wanted to come home with her for Thanksgiving. At first part of me thought she wasn’t being serious, but after some silence, I found myself telling her that I’d love to. I didn’t know how my family would take it, but something about this felt really right to me in the moment. My parents were okay with it, so I went ahead and told my friend I was down for the road trip back home with her to spend Thanksgiving with her family.

I think every college kid should, if given the opportunity, spend a Thanksgiving away from their family. Not only did I have a ton of fun with one of my college best friends, but I got to step into her world for a few days and spend time with her friends and family that I would have otherwise known next to nothing about.

I learned that friends can be like family, and strangers don’t have to stay strangers for long at all. I knew one person going into this trip and that was my friend from school. I wondered if her family would like me. I wondered if I would fit in with the dynamic. Five days is a long time for things to be awkward. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it all work. All of this was flooding through my head as our drive went on, the roads got windier, and the mountains came into sight.

I felt so welcomed and wanted. These people took the time to try and get to know me a little bit, and they didn’t have to do that. It wasn’t awkward, and it didn’t feel forced.

I got to leave the familiarity of my family Thanksgiving and step into the unfamiliarity of her family Thanksgiving. It turns out, they weren’t all that different. We made food. We spent time together.

Thanksgiving is a time for people to come together and give thanks for all that they have in life. You can do that with your family, you can do that with your friends, and I was lucky enough to do it with my friend and her family.

I’m thankful for what I have with my family, and it was definitely different not being with them on Thanksgiving, but I’m so thankful that my friend invited me to tag along with her.

The road trip was a blast, the people were fantastic, and the adventures we managed to go on made everything so much fun. From first time experiences, to late night car concerts, I wouldn’t change any part of how I spent this Thanksgiving.