My internship is quickly coming to a close, and I’m sad to say I’ll be leaving the UK soon.

I have to admit, I’m a bit excited about it. I can finally go home to my friends, family and cat, but I’d gotten so used to living here that I call it my “home away from home”. How did I do it? Well take a look here.

This stop is home.

1. Tell Yourself You Belong

I’m American. Like…very obviously American, so how’s that supposed to work, right? Easy. Just accept the fact that you’re living somewhere new. Tell yourself, “This is my home now, may as well make the best of it.” And it works. You get into a rhythm, you let your room get a bit messy, you treat the place you’re at like it’s home, and eventually, it starts to feel like it.

Need to change to the Central line? Cause you can do that here.

2. Learn the Area

I came to London knowing absolutely nothing. I would always get lost and turned around and couldn’t navigate the tube to save my life. After slowing down and just soaking it in, I can tell you the best ways to get to whatever station from wherever you are. And It’s only been four months. It’s a great feeling, like how I can navigate the streets back home and know when is the best or worst time to be where.

I bet you won’t find many tourists in Hackney.

3. Be a Local

Don’t just do the things tourists do all the time, do something you like to do. If you’re in London for a while, you have plenty of time to see Big Ben, the Eiffel tower isn’t going anywhere if you’re in France and I’m pretty sure the Egyptian pyramids aren’t vanishing soon. Don’t be scared to do something different, stay away from fast food (if you’re American like me), and get all of your basic sightseeing out of the way as soon as you can. You have more things to see, I promise, and it’s so much better than anything you can find on Oxford Street.

Don’t think I didn’t do tourist things too.

4. Just Live

Just be yourself. Let yourself make friends. Don’t stop yourself from making that dumb purchase. Just have fun like you would back home. You’re going to be here for a while, make it great.

Just remember, nobody tells you how hard it is to leave. This has been a wonderful experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and I’m so thankful for every single person in this agency. I’ll be back eventually, and I’ll be sending a very long, very emotional email as soon as I get home.