It Has Been A While...

Hi Everyone!

It has been a while. As I understand it, everyone has been on the edge of their seats to see what my rather adventurous life has been like. Oh wait. Nevermind. I got my life confused with someone else's. Although I have yet to jump out of a plane or wrestle a bear, quite a few things have happened. First off, I am currently sitting on campus at my new university surrounded by a bunch of people with accents. Except of course, they think I am the one with an accent, not the other way around. Secondly, before getting here to Leeds, I took a quick trip to Washington DC. C oh wait was I numbering? Thirdly or would this now be fourthly? Oh whatever! Anyway, after DC, I went to Edinburgh before finally settling myself and my gigantic mass of clothes here in my comfy new university or as the locals call it, uni.

As you can see, I have a lot to tell you because there is a lot to sum up about the last few weeks, so expect some amazingly poor grammar and spelling coming your way in the next few days!

Write you soon,
The Adventurer

Saying Good Bye ... Or Rather See You Later

I have been saying good bye to people throughout the week. The first few were not too bad. Don't get me wrong though because I am sad I won't see them for some time. But the more times I say good bye, the closer I get to crying. The closer I get to crying, the more the situation becomes real. I leave my college town tomorrow. Today was tough because I stopped by my old job and said good bye to my work family and a few friends and yesterday I said good bye to a couple of people I am super close with including my psychologist. In all actuality, I said "See you next year!" to my work family and "see you later!" to everyone else. My work family has been fairly constant throughout the four years. There have been a few changes, but as the years have progressed, my bond with those individuals has grown and become strong. 

When you think about it, saying bye to people seems so final. It sounds like I will never see them again. I do realize there are a few people that I may never see again, but I have my fingers crossed and my hopes up high that I will see them all and on purpose! I quite honestly refuse to hope for anything less. 

Anyway, leaving is getting harder and harder to think about. Don't, even for one second, believe that I am not excited for all the possibilities that are ahead of me, it is just hard to leave people knowing I will not see them for a year. These are the people I grew up with in the last four years and I am very attached to them. They have seen me at my high and low points. They have seen me smile, cry, laugh, scream, everything. They have witnessed my battle with depression and have helped me work through it.  In the last four years, I have become the woman I want to be, with a few small exceptions. (These exceptions are what I hope to accomplish on my trip.) These are people that I care about even if I care more for them than they do for me. I am glad to be the leaving everyone on my own terms because they are not leaving me. It is easier this way. 

T-minus 16 days

The Bank

Hello Internet!
The major "stressor" of the moment is choosing a bank to use while I am gone. I have narrowed it down to three accounts between three different banks. I was told by a friend to use either Barclays or HSBC, but I am leaning towards using NatWest. I was told that NatWest does not have a very far reach, but it sounds like a good deal. I have not really been stressing too much, but I have gotten tired of looking and comparing banks/accounts.
On a positive note, I have both my student visa and my visa credit card! It is great to not have to think about them. My student visa only took a little more than a week, which was a surprise because everything told me that it would take about six weeks or so. I also was told that another friend is going to try to visit me while I am in the UK. It makes me smile just thinking about it!

The Title

So the more I think about it, the more I dislike the title of this blog. I tried so many other titles like A Taste For Adventure and such, but they were all taken. I kind of just got tired of trying to figure out a title that wasn't taken, so I gave in to Tasting Adventure. I mean, it still fits, but it sounds ridiculous. I am going to be exploring Europe for the first time and it is pretty much the first legit time I have been out of the US, so I am going to get a taste for travel. I am also going to be on another "adventure" entirely because I will actually have to feed myself for the first time in my life. Yes, I do feed myself currently, but I am also not currently working or going to school. In the last four years, I was eating either at home with my parents feeding me or at the school dining commons.

The Beginning

So I decided to start a blog before I leave the good ol' US of A. This blog is to be my space to update family, friends, and randoms about my adventures in Europe. Having never been I am rather nervous, but ultimately excited. I will be attending school in the UK and for the first time in my life, I will have to go to school and actually cook for myself. This, of course, is not to say that I cannot cook, but I am still limited in my abilities and really prefer baking to actually having to feed myself meals like lunch and dinner. So if all goes as planned, this will house some pictures of my travels and some pictures of how well (or how poorly) I am feeding myself. It may also contain some complaints or frustrations from time to time. You have been warned.