Reilly and the Roo’s

Photo Courtesy of Reilly Moreland

I look down at my watch. It’s 5 a.m. on my first day traveling abroad for summer camp in Cape Tribulation, Australia, and after calculating some mental math, I have concluded that it’s 2 p.m. back in Kansas City.

That means my older brother is nannying, my little brother is playing a round of golf, my mom is needle pointing at her stitchers group, my dad just finished his lunch break and my dog is sitting home alone on the kitchen floor. The anxiety about being away from home for the first time sends me for a curveball. I’ve never been away from my family, and the realization finally hits: I won’t be able to speak to my family for the next three weeks.

The panic became so unbearable that I pounded on my trip leader’s hostel room door. When George, my trip leader, opened the door in a haze, I could barely speak.

The next hour was spent crying to George, going through stress-relieving exercises and walking around the group hostel. He taught me how to deal with the anxiety that comes with homesickness-focusing on my breath and squeezing my fingers to help bring my heart rate down.

I was given an incredible opportunity of traveling abroad to Australia over the summer. But I had never been away from my family for more than 48 hours. Meaning no phone, no encouraging texts from my mom, and no more late night facetime calls with my friends for three weeks.

Instead of attending morning swim practice, getting a Vitality Bowl, and practically wasting the day away, I needed to get out of my comfort zone and try something completely new. When my family friend told me about how much I would love this trip and organization, I never even considered that my usually confident self would be homesick, let alone locking myself in a random bathroom for 30 minutes every time I felt the sting of missing my family. Even though I loved everything that we were doing, like ziplining, kayaking, and scuba diving, it was a  constant countdown to arriving home with my family

The next three weeks were probably the most challenging weeks I have ever experienced. I tried to be an outgoing, positive person on the trip. But I missed the comfort of my own bed, wrapped up in a blanket, knowing my family was just downstairs was always pressing my mind.

With the constant bear hugs and late night evening circles from my campmates and counselor George, I was able to learn how to cope with my anxiety attacks during my time in Australia. When I was crying at my counselor’s hostel door at 5 in the morning, my other campmates seemed to take notice of the underlying problem and became more sympathetic to my feelings.

Without George going through breathing exercises and morning walks with me, and my camp friend, Sophie giving me constant reminders that I was going to be okay, I wouldn’t have been able to be myself on the trip.

I wouldn’t have laughed so hard if it weren’t for my friend Elizabeth from Mobile, Alabama, who would take off her scuba mask off in the middle of the ocean to laugh at something I did. Little moments like these made it easier for me to be comfortable with living in the moment. Without the constant check-ins and motivational speeches from my friend Charlie from Hamilton, Massachusetts, I wouldn’t have been able to open up to my group about my constant homesickness. And without the constant love and support from my whole group, my trip would’ve been a lot harder for me to open up about my anxiety.

Throughout my 21 days traveling abroad, I learned that although I missed my family like crazy, I was already building one in Australia with my Aussie pals. To the once in a lifetime people that I met who helped me get through some of the hardest weeks of my life: Let’s plan our reunion ASAP, okay? Okay.