I took my daughter on a 'collegemoon' to Europe. It made my anticipatory grief about her leaving for school even stronger.

The author (right) took her daughter on a European vacation before she heads off to college this fall.

Courtesy of Kate Loweth.

We took a "collegemoon" to celebrate my daughter's accomplishments as she graduates high school.

The trip gave us precious time together before she leaves for college.

It also made me realize how much I'll miss her, even as I'm excited for her to take this next step.

My daughter is heading off to college in Southern California in late September, and I'm doing what I suspect many parents do when a child reaches this milestone: trying to be genuinely excited while quietly wondering how I'm supposed to get used to an emptier house .

So last month, I took her on a "collegemoon" to celebrate everything she had accomplished — and, perhaps selfishly, to soak up some time together before she leaves home .

What I didn't expect was how that trip would make me even more anxious about her next steps .

We took a trip to celebrate all of her hard work My daughter had earned this celebratory trip.

She graduated with a GPA over 4.0, but that number doesn't really tell the whole story.

During her junior and senior years of high school, she took all of her classes at our local community college, ultimately earning two associate degrees alongside her high school diploma.

Watching her juggle college-level coursework , babysitting 20 hours a week, and being a teenager was one of those parenting experiences that was both exhausting and exhilarating.

I was incredibly proud of her, and I wanted to mark the occasion with something bigger than a dinner out or a graduation party .

So we went to Europe.