Makayla’s Canterbury Tales: A too-honest travel journal

Day Five: Distance

Living in England for a month is weird. It is the last day of our classes this week and I am taking this time to reflect on the week as a whole. 

Being here is like living in an alternate universe, or a super realistic dream. Everything seems normal but when you look too hard, it is all a tad off. The soda bottles look the same, but the cap is attached to the bottle. The streets and cars look similar, but the brands are completely different and, obviously, the sides of the road are switched. Department stores have the same almost-sanitary look with fluorescent lights, but there is no chance you will see a Target here. 

I find that the most mind-bending part of being here is that my family is eight hours behind me and if anything were to happen, I would be alone.

When I am in Flagstaff, there is still sort of a safety net because I know I only have to drive 356 miles to go home and be with my family. Here, all safety nets are gone. This became extremely apparent to me today when I went to London for the first time. 

I loved London. It was probably my favorite metropolitan area that I have visited because of the blend of contemporary architecture with older buildings. Seeing the Piccadilly Lights attached to a building that has been sitting in the same spot since the 18th century gives the city its anachronistic charm. 

The city holds onto tradition and history, which is likely why I find it so appealing. I am a huge history buff so preserving artifacts, architecture and stories is very important to me and I think the city shows its visitors it feels the same. 

Some groups in the London area must be history buffs, too, because people are fighting larger developers to preserve the facades of buildings so that they look similar to their appearance in previous centuries. Even the Bank of England is trying to preserve its culture.  

In a way, maybe this is how London tries to sever the distance between its past and present, attempting to mind the gap between history and contemporary life through keeping these buildings. 

If this is true, then London and I might be more similar than I thought.

When I was five years old, my mom and I moved in with my grandmother around this time at her house and I have lived there since then. We spent a lot of time together and even when I was young, she and I shared dreams of traveling the world together. One of the first and most discussed trips was to England. 

She and I had the plan to leave for Europe after I graduated from high school and explore London and Paris. Unfortunately, we never made it. She passed away when I was 13 years old and it felt like the dream of traveling across the pond was gone with her. 

That was until I learned about this trip with my university. It felt like the perfect way to finally explore other parts of the world and improve my skills as a journalst. Also, this trip felt like an amazing way to honor my grandmother and the sacrifices she made to make sure my mom and I were alright. 

I carry pieces of her everywhere I go, so bringing one of her rings (a staple in my wardrobe) with me feels like I am closing the distance between me and her memory. 

The distance is the most killer part of this trip. I only have a few hours of time to speak with my loved ones at an appropriate time for them. It makes me sad knowing that I am on the other side of the world and cannot experience things with them. On the other hand though, they know that I am here to expand my mind and life experiences. 

I tried so hard today to try to almost beat the distance between my family and I. My mom is an avid watcher of The Crown and it is now a core memory for me that I was able to video chat with her while I was at Buckingham Palace. I saw a new side of her completely fangirling over the palace and the idea that her daughter is steps away from the King of England. 

It is hard to be away from home when I think about the distance. Reminding myself that I am not only doing this to grow my own experiences but to honor my family helps me understand the significance of what I am doing.