Let's Go

It's been less than three full days since I left London. And yet my life there seems so incredibly far away that I can hardly believe I spent the last nine months there.

Wednesday I sent my last suitcase to Germany. The days leading up to it were a mess, because thanks to Brexit I had to put every single thing in my suitcase on a list, and pray that customs would sign off on everything. Packing and unpacking things, putting them in a separate bag, and frustratedly researching whether I really couldn't send lipstick to Germany (no, you can't). Of course, nowhere near everything fit in my suitcase. The countless kilo sales where I enthusiastically bought vintage clothes every month in Brixton were now making themselves felt. So, an extra package was packed, and with a little force everything fit in there too.

After one last trip to the garbage cans, where I also had to say goodbye to my birthday flowers, my room was almost empty. Only my huge travel backpack was leaning against the bed, and the bag with my laptop and all the things I couldn't send to Germany. Everything looked the same as I found it over nine months ago. No photos on the wall above my desk, no shells on the windowsill that I collected in Cornwall, Brighton and Eastbourne. The wall next to my window was now bare, the poster from my favorite secondhand store in Brick Lane already folded in my suitcase. No fairy lights, no books on feminism and climate change on the shelf, just my raincoat hanging lonely on the hook. My bedding had been taken over by Erhuore, and I sat on the white edge of my mattress. It was just strange. I picked myself up and made the 30-second walk to the Fork Deli one last time to see Jess and James off. I didn't manage to do that without tears either.

But at least I didn't have to spend my last evening all alone. I took the 205 bus to Shoreditch in the evening, where I was welcomed by Mariam in her studio apartment. She is such a relaxed and lovely person that my sad mood was immediately balanced out. In the morning we went for breakfast and as irony would have it, it was only then that I discovered the best vegan almond croissant I had ever eaten in London. Well, one more reason to come back.

At noon, I got on the train to Cambridge. One last time I turned around and looked at the London skyline, the Shard and Gherkin, with a few skyscrapers of Elephant & Castle in the background.

In Cambridge, Laurie was already waiting on the other side of the barrier to pick me up. I was very happy that my first stop was with a familiar person. The time in Cambridge was like Laurie's and my friendship, relaxed, spontaneous, with occasional fooling around and sunbathing in the park.

Right now I'm sitting in my hostel in Nottingham, too tired to do anything but lie in my bed and listen to music. Today it really started. Me alone, more than 22 destinations in UK, Ireland, France and Switzerland, two months just me and my gigantic and heavy backpack. Just chilling, hiking and enjoying the calm before the (bachelor thesis) storm.