Hi all! My name is Sofia Lynn, my main focuses in the hospitality world is the beverage industry and hotels. What drew me to this abroad trip was visiting Bombay Sapphire’s facilities and touring the behind the scenes areas. I feel like when I get to Gatwick it’ll definitely be a culture shock as the roads being on the opposite side as it is in America will give me a heart attack. In my mind people will be a lot nicer and more open to tourism as London is a growing city and they appreciate the differences in cultures rather than reject it. I’m curious to see if Americans really are hated in London because I’ve heard they are super rude on the road and will follow you as an easy pick pocketing target. I am curious to see if the people that live in London actually eat beans on toast for breakfast, like in my American mind that’s an absolutely outrageous combo I would never wish on my worst enemy. Eventually, I do want to just sit and observe the life of London and how people operate on the streets. People walking around and seeing if maybe there they are less on the phones and more experiencing life than we do in the states. For the entire trip I want to work on growing my personal goals in going exploring in a new place with no fear, I want to ask more questions and continue to remain curious, and step out of my comfort zone and becoming more sociable instead of being in my room during downtime. I want to try local pubs as well just to see how their “bar” food differentiates from our greasy bar snacks we usually see at breweries or some bars. I think when I am showing these blogs and reflecting on the trip you’ll see my extrovert come out more with the photos and videos that will be included on tiktoks I upload. As well as when writing these I will include little stories and highlights of the trip that would reflect myself earning these goals. By the end of the trip I hope to have tried new foods (spuds mainly I am so interested in), I want to learn about the ingredients in Bombay Sapphire, and I hope to learn how to use the public transportation like the tube is what they call it in London.