Nostalgia...?

It's funny, a year ago at this time I was just wrapping up a great trip to Paris and London and I had no idea that exactly a year later, I'd be preparing to go live in London for a while. That's been on my mind a lot these past few weeks as I think about how life is funny sometimes and opportunities present themselves at just the right time.

I now officially have my work visa and got a great deal on my plane ticket thanks my SWAP/TravelCuts advisor, Maryse. I have since received my BritBound information and can’t say enough about how helpful the services they provide are. From helping me set up a cell phone (I already have my UK phone # and I'm not leaving until January!), bank account, an orientation session and pub night to a million other things, I haven’t regretted registering for SWAP/BritBound for one second and recommend it to anyone who is planning on working and travelling abroad.

I’ve actually been to the UK a few times and it’s not my home (yet) but somehow, I feel homesick for it as I prepare to leave. Every day I think of London at least once and about how my daily activities (drinking my morning tea, buying groceries, commuting) will be so different and fun, for a while anyway. 

 

Right at the top of my list is making sure that I visit London sights every week and that I travel to a different European country at least once a month; not including regular trips to Paris. The thought of being at Europe’s door and having amazing French pâtisseries and beautiful Paris so easily accessible is unreal. 

 

Scotland will also only be a few hours away, I will be able to get my fill of Scottish greenery, amazing accents, scotch whisky, kilts and highland cows (not highland cows wearing kilts…) anytime I want! I couldn’t be more eager to leave…but for now, I keep waiting semi-patiently.

As I experience this strange sense of nostalgia, I leave you with the following two quotes which are oddly similar to each other and are really resonating with me lately:

Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.

-Judith Thurman

How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew?

-Che Guevara