I’ve been in England for four days and have yet to write a word about it. I must be having a good time, eh? Well, here it is.

Four years ago I boarded a plane…and then another…and then another…to get to Perth, Australia. If you’ve never heard of it, look it up. Surely my schoolmates were lying when they told me I could dig a hole to China because Perth seems to be the real planetary opposite of New York. You can take two routes: New York —> Los Angeles —> Sydney —> Perth; or New York —> somewhere in Europe —> Dubai —> Perth. By the time I got there I was nearly in tears just from flying.

I kind of knew when I arrived that this was going to be something I would remember for the rest of my life, but I’m not sure I expected to make some of the best friends I will likely ever have and for this lonely continent to change my life. There are so many stories from Perth to Sydney, to the Whitsundays and Bali and back again. Too many to tell now, but since I’ve been in England I’ve been taking the longest route down memory lane.

Until Monday, I hadn’t seen my friend Jenny in four years. I knew her for five months, she lived a couple units down from me on campus in Perth, and she was one of my best friends in Australia. When I told her I was planning a trip to Ireland, we both decided it had been too damn long since we’d seen each other and so she basically threatened me if I didn’t come out to London. She really had to twist my arm there…

You know those people who you won’t see for weeks, months or years and the moment you’re back together it’s like no time has passed? That’s my Jenny. I have lots of friends spread over several continents like that, and I’m not sure they know how much they mean to me. You know who you are and I want you all to know that I miss you and think about you often, and the moment I get a chance to visit I will be there.

So I hopped off the plane at London Stansted and as I walked out of “customs” (there was no check at all, so I can barely count it) I heard a cheeky remark from this small girl standing alone. My Jenny ❤️

This is a really long way to tell you all that, rather than sightseeing that day, Jenny and I spent the first four hours, at least, of my first trip to England just talking. Talking about everything from Perth to Crossfit to her inevitable move to Australia and my upcoming adventure in Korea. Jenny, I know you’re reading this and I want you to know that this has been such an amazing time…and we haven’t even made it to Ireland yet.

So yeah, I’ve been too busy to write, but not because Big Ben was calling, it’s because nostalgia was. We went back to her parents house in Hertfordshire and there she has a scrapbook from Australia and it nearly made me cry (I’m a complete mush with sentimental things). There’s a photo in there from our last night together in Oz and our faces are hysterically perfect. We aren’t crying or smiling, but straight faced, holding each other and staring off into different directions. You can read our expressions that say “I don’t want you to leave” and “I don’t want to leave,” respectively.

Here’s her page of me from the scrapbook:

So even though I “convinced” Jenny to come with me back to Ireland for Saint Patrick’s Day (no convincing necessary), she took two days off of work Monday and Tuesday. Monday she showed me around Hertford, where she lives, outside of London. We checked out a CrossFit box (I’m obsessed), got some food and cider, and later that night her awesome boyfriend Ti made us a KILLER meal. SO delicious.

Coincidentally, a girl I worked on my university newspaper with is traveling and our time in London has overlapped. Zan came with Jenny, Ti and I on Tuesday out to Stonehenge. For £15 we didn’t know what we were going to get, but I think that this was inevitable:

The audio guide told us all about Stonehenge, as much as we know about it at least, and about the surrounding area rich in pre-history. Not the warmest or sunniest of days, but we learned a bunch, laughed a lot and had a great time.

When our ears were good and numb and our noses runny, Ti drove the lot of us back through Oxford where we walked around, had a meal and some drinks, and looked on in awe at how stunningly beautiful this town is. Sorry New Paltz, but you look like Bed Stuy in comparison.

That’s Ti and Jenny walking through campus. Here’s a few more shots of where these incredibly lucky and intelligent students get to call home, take classes and live for their university careers:

Definitely my favorite thing in Oxford was this:

Because we all judge books by their cover, this bookstore wrapped these up in brown paper with an anonymous description/recommendation written on them. Fucking brilliant. Oxford, you are quite smart. Zan chose one she found interesting and even after opening it she judged it by its cover. She resisted at first, but now she can’t put it down. I say again, Oxford, you’re brilliant.

We headed back toward London and after dropping Zan off we went to pick some things up at Jenny’s parents’ house and I was privileged to meet the awesome lady that made her, Mrs. Lynne Cumming.

So by the end of Tuesday I hadn’t been in London at all…and I was having a BLAST. I did make it to London though…so keep reading to find out how all of that has gone down.