This is going to be a very long post so brace yourselves. I just landed at Gatwick and I’m officially in London. I’M IN LONDON. I repeated that for myself because its unbelievable to this day. I have a few hours before I get to my new home and I wanted to wait to post until this evening, but i have time. Plus, everything is fresh in my mind and jet lag will soon come.

Let’s start with my final 24 hours in America. I procrastinated on packing by going out with friends one last time but it was worth it. (Side note: Girl Scout Cookies are life.) My brain was so flustered while packing all feelings were at a standstill. All that mattered was that I didn’t miss anything important. Speaking of missing things, goodbyes were hard despite it only being temporary. To keep the emotions on this post to a minimum I won’t go into details.

My home airport was incredibly, and shockingly, easy to get through. No lines in security, no customs, and easy boarding. My time on the plane was great and I have no complaints. The food was unexpectedly delicious, the people in my row were great conversationalists, and the entertainment was perfect. I chose to fly premium, aka first class, and it was very worth it. I highly recommend Norwegian Airlines and will most likely return to America with them. My “stranger-turned-travel-buddy” happened to be an airline employee and has traveled a lot thanks to work. Even got some travel tips that I won’t reveal until I make those tips reality.

Landing in the United Kingdom was even easier than back home, but that’s because I have a UK passport. “How could that be Ashleigh?!” Well, fun fact, if your mom was born in England and you were born there (within a certain timeframe) you may be eligible too. There’s a few other circumstances that give you eligibility, including if your dad was born there, but married your mom, then you were born. I recommend you check it out because dual citizenship is awesome and going through customs will be easier than ever. Unless you look suspect…

Getting to Bath took two buses, but I’m okay with it because I was able to sleep since I only slept 2 hours on the plane thanks to the movies I binged. Spent a few hours at Gatwick and a few hours at Heathrow, then had some Italian coffee in England which I laugh at every time. The first bus ride was short and there was nothing special to see. The second bus, omg it was a real life fairytale before my eyes… and I tried to take pictures of it, but after admiring it with my own eyes, by the time I got my camera ready it was gone. I’ll do better next time so that you all can see what I see. Carrying around all my luggage was tough, but it turns out I wasn’t alone and I actually found two other students. We went to get our key, shared a taxi to our small dorm rooms, and met up with three others to go into the city. Our rooms were the bare minimum, so we bought linens, bathroom necessities, and a few groceries. The city has so much good shopping and it’s so tempting, but I’d rather travel.

How could I forget about the cold weather?! I walked in it for about 5 hours straight and it blows my mind considering I’m used to 80° days. My best friends are my coat, boots, gloves, and thermals. Even in my room I’m bundled up with the heat on. By the way, the forecast calls for snow tonight and orientation is all day tomorrow so that will be interesting.

There was a warning about the length of this post. If you made it this far, thank you.