Departures
It's a weird feeling, that last night before you leave, unsure when or if you'll be back. Even if you've been worn down by the entire experience, even if you had a terrible time, you become overpoweringly aware that this is a chapter of your life that is ending. This is a moment that will not come again, and you clasp every last lingering sensation to you in a final mental embrace. You may come back, you may go to the same places, but even if the place is the same, you won't be. After doing it enough, you know instinctively you will look back on the past days fondly, glossing over the bad parts, romanticising everything. Small things will come back to haunt you. You will laugh at the trials, and pine for the good moments. You may never see any of it again, but it will be indelibly part of you. And years later, some evening far away, something will flash through your mind to remind you of that time, and it will make you smile.