I’m coming for my cat!!! We woke up at the crack of dawn again to catch our flight to London, so we could connect straight to Pittsburgh. That was easy peasy. My luggage got through fine. The ride was nice. BUT we arrived at Heathrow and our flight starts to get delayed, and continues to do so. Our little group of friends just grabbed some food and sat around the gates waiting because we originally only had a 2-hour layover, but we ended up being there for 5.
At one point, we had a few students go to the help desk to see what was up, but they just said the plane was having technical difficulties, like that is super reassuring. It ended up just being a fire alarm needing replaced. Still though, we were 3 hours behind schedule.
On the plane though I really am reflecting on this trip, and it was such a good experience. There are people I would have never called my friends before this, that I now can. The friends I made helped me get through this trip. In all seriousness, I was having a lot of mental health issues before the trip and I was worried because my friends are who keep me grounded when I fly off the rails, and I knew I didn’t have many friends in this class. I am forever grateful for the connections I made, and wouldn’t trade them for the world. I have created new experiences for myself, and continue to learn more about myself while pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. There are ups and downs to every trip, but it is always worth it in the end.