Finding my sea legs for life in Leicester, England
UK Return Part 2: Visiting old study abroad haunts and remembering I’m still the same person
We left Joe and Lauren’s place in Manchester and took the rail down to the main station. We were on the commuter rail with people going to work, and I felt so bulky with my big through-hiking backpack in the tight spaces onboard. Carp and I got separated on the train a bit, and this was my first time being alone since landing in England. And I felt the feels. I remembered who I was at 20 years old, and connected her to my 32 year old self. We liked each other.
We met my parents soon after at the Manchester train station, and hopped on a train to Leicester, where I studied abroad for a full year 12 years ago. Leicester, to my partner Carp’s surprise, is the 11th largest city in England with a population of almost 900,000 (he was expecting a small rural town). Leicester is right in the middle of the county, and this is why I ended up choosing it to live in; I wanted a place that felt landlocked like my Kansas life.
