This Is What It’s Like To Fall In Love Abroad

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It began with the end in mind. Whatever was about to happen had an end date to it. It was not going to last forever, and I was okay with that.  We were from different sides of the US, and being logical about the whole situation would be to just drop it; stop it in its tracks before it got too deep. 

The idea of him was so nice; I was in a beautiful country and I could share it with a beautiful mind like his.  For the first time in my life, I clicked with someone for their soul.  We had more in common than i would think by looking at him, but that was me being judgmental on the first day of school.  His bad boy image, including a very nice man bun, was everything that intimidated me; which made him that much more intriguing. 

I’m not one for cliché pickup lines…but when its the first day of school and none of your converters work, your phone is dead, and your mom is frantically texting you while its 3am at home, you’re going to want a fully charged phone. With a delicate throat clear, I spoke across the lounge to him. “Hey do you mind if I charge my phone in your laptop?” The answer was yes, and from then on, I would have butterflies in my stomach every time he looked my way.

I’m not the type of girl to throw my emotions and feelings in the air for everyone to see, in fact I’m the opposite.  I usually shut people out before they have the chance to find those feelings, and not to mention I have never felt this way about anyone ever.   Whatever was happening to me, was out of my own hands. I woke up thinking about him, I looked forward to language class we had together (neither of us were fluent by the end of the semester, but the broken Italian we learned was enough to get by), I wanted to be with him.  The thrill of everything made it so easy to daydream. Thoughts of traveling with him were exhilarating; I didn’t pretend to be anyone I wasn’t.  Like I said, there was an end date that was quickly approaching whether I liked it or not.

He changed me, but not in a bad way.  He showed me that I was able to have these feelings, and that I was able to open my heart to new people and new adventures. I put my heart on my sleeve and let nature run its course. 

Natures course ended about two months ago when I boarded a New Jersey bound plane, and he made his way back to the west coast.  Things would never be the same.  As much as I wanted to deny it, those four months were over and it was back to reality.  I want to thank him for putting the smile on my face and unlocking my guarded heart, a task in which was never done before. My advice to anyone reading…let yourself fall in love with more than the scenery every once in a while.