Four months ago, I got on a bus at the Hunter Welcome Center. I was crying, I was eating my last La Popular burrito, and I was quite nervous for the days ahead as I headed to DFW for my transatlantic adventure.

And what an adventure it has been.

I could now share with you my list of things to do in Oxford, but I won’t bother with that. I could give you tips on traveling Europe, but I would just say to figure it out yourself. I could be really dramatic about my reunion with Mexican food, but I will spare you.

So, instead, I write to you now from my favorite Oxford café with tears in my eyes as I think about leaving. I hate to be one of those sappy writers who is so painfully sentimental, but I am afraid that is what I am becoming with every word I type.

I look back on the last four months and I don’t know where the days have gone. I try to remember all the things I laughed at, but I didn’t write them all down. I didn’t consistently post on my blog, but who really thought I would?

I didn’t go everywhere on my list. I probably spent too much money on weird souvenirs that will maybe remind me of adventures I had. I tripped over a lot of cobblestones (and seriously people, it is a miracle that neither of my ankles broke).

I saw a lot of people and cultures and I tasted new foods and smelled some pretty weird smells. I lived in houses that smelled exceptionally weird some days with some crazy people that I love but can’t stand sometimes.

I missed home, and then I didn’t. I made new friends and fell in love with cities, but somehow I never met a British boy to date. I read some books, but not as many as I planned to. I had to think about what I think about the world and the people in it.

I took some pictures, probably too many. I walked all over Europe and I will arrive in America with really tired feet.

In two weeks, I will get on a bus at 9 Canterbury Rd. I will cry and I will probably be eating a scone or an entire roll of dark chocolate digestives and I will, in a terrible blend of happy and sad, embark on my return to Texas.

Ready or not, the end is beginning. I’ll see you guys soon.