No he didn’t remain on the trip and it was never the plan for him to travel with me the whole time. We were supposed to travel together for the first but and then he was going back to work and I was going to carry on with my long dreamed of Europe backpacking trip.
The breakup also snapped the last thread of my mental health after a really difficult year that had included a cancer scare and surgery alongside the usual stress of being a college student. It was a tough time and I am to this day proud of myself for having done it and I still use it as an example to myself that I can do hard things.