Although Anna loses Jamie, she honors his legacy by embarking on the "grand tour" by herself and taking over his role as a poetry professor at Oxford University. The final scene of the film shows Anna bringing a pound cake to her first class — the same thing Jamie did when he was a professor and she was his student.

After Jamie passes away, Anna explores all those places she discussed with her boyfriend. The ending shows two instances, one where both Jamie and Anna are going to the places together (in a dream) and one where Anna is visiting the places alone (living Jamie's dream).

In the movie, Jamie doesn’t get the opportunity to go traveling with Anna. In the final pages of the book, Jamie and Ella (Anna’s character’s name in the book) go on a trip together. Ella’s future is a little more open-ended in the book, and she does not become a teacher at Oxford like Anna does in the movie.