Thursday, June 3, 2010

sing me back home

Well I've been home for two weeks now. Back to seeing SUVs, one-cent coins, and Rascals sputtering under obese butt-cheeks. The jet lag aside, it's taken some time to get acclimated to living at home again. Eating home cooked meals, watching Boston sports, sleeping in my own bed, and catching up with family/friends have been the welcome adjustments. Waking up to the same scenery has been the hard part. Life is more interesting when you don't know what's around the next corner.

My experience in Australia and New Zealand can't really be expressed in a few paragraphs. All the parts of my trip can't be summed up into one grand truth revealed. But I will say that my favorite part of travelling is inevitably linked with my biggest regret. Throughout seven months I got to know hundreds of different people and places, but none of them as well as I would have liked. The faces and places flash before your eyes in an instant, like stains on the pages of a flip-book. Maybe I flipped the pages too fast.

Looking back, I think getting from A to B was a lot more fun than the destination itself. I travelled by foot, car, plane, bus, train, subway, ferry, 4WD, sailboat, 18-wheeler, bicycle, pontoon, RV, catamaran, and motorized rickshaw. By the end, I learned that dependability comes at a premium, and rickshaw travel is underrated.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my updates and random thoughts. It's definitely been a good experience for me. I'm not going to shut the site down yet. I plan on taking off again in the not-too-distant future. I'd like to spend the summer at home and plan a trip around Europe during the fall. We'll see how that works out.

I'll be making the rounds this summer so give me a shout, I'd love to catch up. Until then, take care, and keep the compass spinning.