Typically by the end of a long trip I feel ready to go home to get a good nights sleep in my own bed and have a homecooked meal . For the first time in a long time, I was dreading flying home and leaving Germany. I think what made it so hard was the extremely unique and rare circumstances under which we traveled. To be somewhere entirely new for two weeks, have a completely full schedule, constantly be with a large group of friends, make new friends that live in this place you’re visiting, and then have to abruptly leave it all behind is so difficult. While you’re there you’re riding this high and functioning off adrenaline, and then reality hits and it’s all over.

Instead of letting myself be sad on the bus and plane ride, I took time to look through our photo albums, reminisce on the most fun nights of my life, and remind myself how lucky I am to be coming home with new memories and new friends.

For the long flight I sat next to all Pitt students from our group which was so nice. I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane so instead I just listened to music and thought. A couple days after we got back I was scheduled to start a new job. I was feeling a bit anxious about the quick turnaround, but after having squeezed so much in during our two weeks in Germany I knew that I could handle it.

When we landed back in the US, we waited in the longest customs line known to man and just barely made our second flight. In a strange way I enjoyed this time with everyone because it was one of the last times we would be together until the fall semester. We were all delusional and everything everyone was saying and doing was making me laugh so hard.

I slept the whole second flight, and before I knew it we were back in Pittsburgh. It’s so strange how when you travel to a new place it feels so normal to be there, and then you get home it feels like you never left. I grabbed my bags, said my goodbyes, and found my mom and my sister. As much as I was excited to see them, it was hard to think or talk about anything else other than Germany. When I got home the exhaustion of the past two weeks finally caught up with me, and I slept for almost 14 hours. It definitely felt good to be home, but it felt like a piece of me was still in Germany.