I woke up this morning before the long travel day and went on a nice hour long walk. I wanted to have one last coffee overlooking the town square in Augsburg. Throughout the past two weeks, I had eaten meals and snacks there many times. Eating there was always very peaceful, and it is definitely something I will miss.
Afterward, I returned to the hotel, made sure I had all of my belongings packed, and then enjoyed the free breakfast one last time, which I had thoroughly enjoyed throughout the past 14 days. The boiled eggs and sausage bites became a staple of my diet and got me through mornings when I woke up starving. This is definitely not my normal diet back home, but it is something I may try to replicate when I return.
We then departed on an hour-long bus ride to Munich. Even with the endless amount of caffeine in my system that morning, I still fell asleep for almost the entire ride. Once we arrived, we checked our bags with United and made it through customs very efficiently. As a group, we then grabbed drinks and even more snacks for the nine-hour flight ahead of us.
I ended up with a window seat, which I usually dislike, but I was surprisingly able to sleep for about half of the flight. During the second half, I watched two movies, including The Departed and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Surprisingly, the nine-hour flight did not feel nearly that long. Time seemed to move very quickly. I only stood up once during the entire flight, so by the time we landed and I was finally able to move around again, my body felt extremely stiff and tired.
We then had a long layover in BWI, or at least I thought we did. Customs ended up taking around two hours, and we almost had to run to make our connecting flight. People in customs were cutting in line and acting very rudely. One woman asked to go in front of us because her flight was leaving in an hour, and we responded by saying that our flight was boarding in only ten minutes.
All in all, though, I cannot complain too much because the flights went smoothly and we arrived home on time. I definitely missed being able to cook my own meals and having the freedom to drive anywhere whenever I wanted. I am still surprised by how fast the trip went, and it made me realize how close I truly am to graduating, which still felt so far away just last year.
