Surreal

After seven months of intense and endless paperwork, meetings, more paperwork, lost visas, passport, a pair of DYNK shoes, and many unsolved questions, I finally departed the good ol' U.S.A for my international rotation in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. It feels incredibly surreal and almost like a vacation since I am continuing to live out of suitcases. I have a sinking feeling I will continue to feel like I am on vacation until I have my new place up and running in a few weeks. I wanted to write my thoughts out since, at this moment, is still raw and new. Note that I am writing this on the first plane from Tampa to Washington D.C!While going over a month after Mary Frances in the big picture and long scheme of things is not a bad idea (especially since she is my guinea pig!), it is somewhat tortuous since I love to plan. Basically, I have traits of a type-A personality! It is amazing having someone there who I trust figure out everything first, but it also really made my last few weeks in America a little difficult. The communication between the countries has been difficult and most people expect me to know these things since we are dating. I have been involved in some of her decisions, but it still weird to let go and let her figure it out. Not saying she hasn’t done a great job because she really has knocked it out of the ballpark! I wholeheartedly believe that my new life will be much easier to begin because of her efforts this past month. I just wanted to go over and start yesterday!Then, the Andrew Bryan Farewell Tour began in early July before I even found out I was going on 1 August. I saw my best friends in North Carolina and had an awesome weekend in Raleigh while reminiscing over old times and hoping for the best in the future. Little did I know what was going to happen one week later…*Flashback moment* Originally, Mary Frances and I were both slated to start our rotation on 30 June 2017. Due to work conflicts, my start date was pushed back until 1 September. Once my project filed earlier than expected, my awesome manager willingly gave up my time for August and I could begin my rotation in August - if KPMG UK would have me. I received this call on a Monday night when I was making dinner. Safe to say I could no longer eat or drink and instantly began preparing my visa application. The next day was one of the busiest and stressful of the entire process as I had to rush everything and figure out my game plan for my now two remaining weeks in the USA.Once I found out that I was available to leave, everything - both professionally and personally - was a whirlwind. I initially wrote down who I had to see before I let and went from there. Thus began eating out at nice meals for two weeks… Not saying I complained, but it did get rather old to hear “where do you want to go since it is your last meal ever.” I just wanted someone else to pick for me! My next stop was New York City where I got to catch up with Mary Jo and Marc and eat all my favorites! Unfortunately, I was not able to see most of my friends due to the fact they weren’t expecting me that early in July. Being in the Big Apple and then heading to the Rotation Orientation (I dare you to say that 10 times in a row!) was a great start to the now fast-paced Farewell Tour.One of the hardest things to do is to say goodbye to the friends I made in Atlanta. It has and will be my city, but I do not know what the future holds. Luckily, I had already said goodbye to my Florida friends since they all left in May/June. It was especially hard to say goodbye to my core GE team since I had spent well over 1,000 hours with them. I know it was not goodbye, but let’s be real, the Big 4 has a high turnover rate so who knows where some will be in two years. Outside of Matthew, the hardest goodbye was to Jenny. I sincerely do not know what I would have done had she not opened up her spare bedroom and allow me to live there for two months. I just wish we had more time together like we originally planned back on Everest! She is the big sister I never had and I cannot wait for the Scotland trip!!Once I wrapped up the Atlanta stop, I made my way to Gainesville and then Ocala and ended in Clearwater. I saw many people on the tour and each “see you later” was different. Family was hard, but I know I will see again on the home visits. My time at home, while short lived, was filled with accomplishing the random tasks I had forgotten and my personal favorite - packing. I. Hate. Packing. Then again, since I have moved and traveled quite a bit recently, it has become like second nature, but I did not enjoy going through all my clothes and deciding what to take and what to leave behind. I thought I did pretty well under the circumstances and I still left a lot at home.Although this rotation means being away from close family and friends for two years, I have extremely high hopes of seeing them in the U.K or elsewhere in Europe! Even though most of my friends and family say two years will fly by, I know that most of them will be at various and different stages in life and my former life will not be the same. I know this is a weird thing to think, but it is one of the thoughts I have when I say “see you later” to everyone! Without a doubt, I am beyond excited for the adventures ahead! Packing into four suitcases was very strange, but knowing the experience is finally occurring makes it very surreal.

• Andrew