My best friend recently spent six weeks Australia snapping pictures of koala bears, taking surfing lessons and probably taking advantage of the 18-year-old drinking age. I was told that she took some classes over there, too, however I refuse to believe it until I see the transcripts.

It is extremely hard to have someone you confide in so much living 14 hours ahead of you. They slowly become impossible to keep in contact with; you start to miss their Instagram posts because they usually post them while you’re sleeping, and you find yourself starting to wake up earlier just in case she calls you from the bathroom of a bar just so we can talk.

Nevertheless, with her living in a different time zone, there were some things I had to learn to do on my own because she was not just a simple drive away from me. Now, yes, we go to different universities and during the school year she is about an hour and a half drive away from me, however, I would take that distance over her living in another country any day.

While she was off doing God knows what, there were five things I realized happen when your best friend is 14 hours ahead of you:

1. You avoid trying out new shades of lipstick because she is most likely sleeping while you are at the store looking at options, so why even try?

2. You become oddly acquainted with Delta Airline’s website because you check their website weekly to see if ticket prices have dropped (even if you need them to drop about $1,000 for you to be able to afford them).

3. You find yourself staying up especially late at night just in case she calls you at her lunch hour which happens to be three hours past your normal bedtime (but to be honest that is also some quality Netflix time you are getting in).

4. You start to avoid shopping because you don’t have your best friend to go with and give honest opinions in the dressing room (my boyfriend can only lie and say it looks good so many times before you catch on and realize how rehearsed it is).

5. You try your hardest to not have a fight with your boyfriend or girlfriend because you will not have her there to back you up or talk you through it.

As soon as she got back from her trip, it was like there was a weight lifted off my chest -- mainly because I missed her so much, but also partly because I did not have to ask my boyfriend what outfit looked better another time.

Alix, my heart is happy you are home.