My trip to England, specifically my time in Bath, was the closest I’ve come to pure bliss. For the first time in my life, I only had to think of my own needs and desires. I could do things I loved, eat what I enjoyed, and talk to so many kinds of people. All decisions were in my hands, and for the first time in my life, it didn’t scare me to have so much control. I returned home with so much more confidence and peace with myself and my life. I even mysteriously got over my phobia of crickets—no idea why unless it was just that overpowering feeling that I could handle anything that came into my way. I cry just looking at the pics. I have to return at least once more before I die.

I´ll always remember the violin player in front of the abby by moonlight, children chasing pidgeons in the same plaza in the daytime, a woman telling about her recently passed husband and pointing out where he used to play on the plaza, walking in the footsteps of Jane Austin, a Japanese bed and breakfast, and the RoundHouse Pub.