Traveling solo can you leave you with so much more than when you left

After an 11-hour flight across the Atlantic, my family and I finally touched down in the Madrid airport, where they would send me off for the journey abroad that awaited me. We were all buzzing with excitement and tiredness. As we walked through the airport, we hurriedly scattered, trying to figure out just where to get our bags. My eagerness to start this new adventure of studying in a foreign country did not allow me to sleep on the flight. While waiting at the luggage carousels, I turned my head and saw a group of about 15-20 students. Some were American University students, some wore University of Wisconsin hoodies and others had University of Michigan backpacks. We could hear them making their way to baggage claim like a boulder rolling down a hill, and I felt like it was going to hit me. At that moment, I got a rush of anxiety and even felt a bit insecure — did I mess up by choosing to travel so far and live alone?

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