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A Global Pandemic in the middle of my Year Abroad

made me realise i am luckier than i imagined i was (part 1)

By TatendaPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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A road trip in Queensland; I still couldn't believe anything was really happening

The title says it pretty well. I could just stop there because that's basically all I wanted to convey. But if you want the ins and outs, the details, the emotions, the thoughts... keep going.

I've been home in the UK for just over a month now and it still all feels like a dream. I couldn't believe how much our lives were changing, but it was a bit scary because I was already in the middle of a life-changing experience. I had travelled the furthest I will ever travel, and I did it by myself. Okay, I'll slow down, let me stat from the beginning. It's a long one though, so my apologies.

I'm from a background where travelling is not something we can put on the table realistically without at least a couple year's planning in advance. "Oh, let's go on holiday," is not a simple suggetsion in my household. My uncle and aunt are the reason I've travelled in my life because they could, and they saw the value in me travelling too. I could not thank them more for that because it is a valuable experience; you learn that the world is bigger than just you and your family and your friends. I kind of knew that living in London, but travelling immerses you in the fact.

When I got the grades to go to university, I genuinely felt accomplished. I thought I would feel accomplished when I got my GCSEs, but I was more relieved than accomlished; that's another story though. This time I was on the road to meeting new people and learning new things; my university is known for their large international intake, so I was going to be connected to people that I will most likely not have met any other way. And I did! Not just people from around England or around Europe, but even beyond the continent. This road I was on was part of my big dream to get to Australia, something I've ALWAYS wanted to do since I was aware of its existence. Of course the childhood confusion of people living their lives upside down intrigued me initially, but so did the lifestyle. The sun, the sea, the accent, the animals... I wanted to be in it! I was done watching it through soap operas and closing my eyes and pretending to be sitting on the beach with a friend with nothing to worry about and to just be in that moment in time. I wanted it for real.

The Year Abroad program paired with my dream university course meant that I had a duty to not make mistakes, for the sake of myslef and my family. I didn't want to visit Australia, I wanted to LIVE there for a hot minute, make friends, embrace a lifestyle that contrasts my own. I needed to not only fulfil the dream, but do it alone. A lot had happened where I needed a fresh start, and this was gonna be the best way to do it. I got two jobs the summer before so that I could save up for this trip AND pay for my driving lessons. The driving lessons went downhill because uunfortunately, things didn't work out for the better. So I lost some money, but held onto what I had left for my trip because I could always try to get a license, but trvelling solo and so far was a new opportunity for me.

I still remember my mum's face when I bought the tickets... by myself. She couldn't believe it had happened. When I took my card out of the machine to pay for my tickets she went "wow, I can't believe it." Believe it mum, because I won't get a refunt for 12 weeks if you sudenly change your mind. But she wasn't going to change her mind. Not at all. It was then I realsied she hid all of her fears and reservations because she knew how much I wanted this and that this was a part of me growing up. I had never really seen it until then. Even when she dropped me off at uni, it was like she had dropped me off for another camping trip or something, and I'll be back in a week. But this time she couldn't believe it, and she couldn't hide that she couldn't believe it. It wasn't a sad "I can't believe it" but more of an amazed one. Like I say, we aren't ones that can really up and go if we feel like a holiday, so I feel like when she was wondering why I was so desperate to work last summer, why I insisted I needed TWO jobs as well as going back to work at university, why I was so nervous about my grades that year, it all came together at that moment. I bought health insurance, I paid for my Visa, I've never been so grown up - and this was just the beginning.

I got on a plane and arrived via Dubai. I skipped a day. But it was nothing compared to a year in a place I could never imagine. Sure, my mum panicked because she thought I was stranded and not feeling too great when in actual fact I had made my own way to the university based on my own map reading skills and asking around a little. Apparently there were tears on her end. I had no signal on my phone to reassure her, and it was the first time in a while where I had to remind myself that me panicking was not going to help. I knew I was headed in the right direction, I just needed to get a hold of mum calmly and when it was possible. But I did, and I made it and for a few people in security that was their first introduction to me. What a way to start afresh.

Now that you have some backstory as to what this year meant to me, I am ready to explain why it was still a year to remember for the better.

student travel
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