I booked a 5-week trip to visit my long-distance boyfriend. We broke up a month before, but I went anyway.

I was hesitant to turn what was meant to be a visit with a long-distance partner into a solo trip, but I'm glad I did it.

Jodie Hughes

Back in 2022, I got into a very long-distance relationship between Paris (the French one) and Boston (the American one).For about 18 months, we staggered along despite the thousands of miles between us.From the start, he seemed convinced that I needed to move to America if I wanted us to have a future. Despite my doubts, I began to consider relocating. I'd fallen for Boston, I live for adventure, and if I hated it, I could just… leave?By this point, the cracks were seriously showing, but we agreed I'd come to America for the summer, as a sort of trial run.We never got that far.Although we'd both questioned the future of our relationship, I was still stunned when he broke up with me a month before I was due to fly to the US.The flights were nonrefundable, and I love a solo trip, but I couldn't decide whether going it alone this time would be cathartic or catastrophic.I have family and friends in the US, though, and my flight was to San Diego, where one of my best friends lives, so I decided to go for it.Deep down, I hoped that maybe this experience would be more empowering than sad.