Arriving to a destination, there are unfamiliar sounds that quickly transition into the familiar. In Italy, the noises that wake me up in the morning are those of street sweepers that resonate more like that of a tsunami blowing through town. At around 5AM the garbage trucks arrive. If you live near a dumpster, you hear what sounds like a million bottles crashing to the ground just in time for sunrise. No need for roasters or alarm clocks. Italy has garbage men and women and diligent street sweepers.
These sounds become familiar after a time. You don’t notice the garbage trucks at 5AM. The old woman that comes to sweep the terrace every single day muffles with dream-like states. I won’t miss those sounds. I won’t miss waking up to the shuffling of feet followed by sweeping. I won’t miss the screaming baby at an apartment nearby that seemed to have arrived into the world in the middle of my three months in Florence. Daily life goes on in Florence with those sounds I am no longer apart.
As I lugged my luggage to the train station, over some of the most beautiful sites of the city, I remember nothing of that walk. All I can recall is my determination to get to the station early, with plenty of time to catch my train to Rome. My goodbye with Florence never really came for I never stopped to smell the roses or appreciate the sounds no longer filling my life.
Somehow I doubt they sell "very Italian pizza". Time to go home. I'm being too cynical.
Travel is a way of change. You are introduced to these places and then you must part with them, if you so choose. A routine establishes and before you know it, travel is over and you are headed home. Yes, I know some never head home, but I contend a visit home in between travel is a necessary part of the travel process. The sweet sounds you may find annoying throughout travel might actually be appreciated after a stint at home.
I am headed home to Colorado, with no plane ticket after today’s flight. I have no travel plans after spending three months traveling almost every week. I saw parts of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Spain and Italy from the top of its boot right down to the heel. I’m exhausted. While some may keep traveling and scoff at my measly three months of travel, squeezing in a trip home just might make your next travels all the better.
Instilling The Want To Travel Again
As I sit on this never-ending flight to Chicago, being on a plane in the near future does not appeal to me. However, once I go home, I know I will want to travel. That want to travel may take a backseat after European town after European town. You forget about the thrill. Then, home hits you. Life is back to a set routine and you want to travel again. For me, that want usually only comes after a stint at home.
Appreciating Comfort
For some reason, Italians don’t believe in drug stores, selling all manner of beauty products, hair care, contact cleaner, etc. I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to walk into a beauty supply store that had everything I needed without astronomical price tags. Being at home makes you appreciate the comforts you don’t have when you travel. Those comforts not found in travel are what make the process interesting. We have to distinguish home from travel. Roughing it on the road is key toward building an appreciative person.
Sleep, Sleep and More Sleep
Travel had worn me thin. In between the fast paced lifestyle of waking up in a new place every few days, fatigue presents and travel is not always welcome. To be rested and ready for my next travels away from home, a little time spent lounging around and sleeping is more than necessary.
Time For Reflection
Being home allows me to reflect on my travels in the clearest sense. As I look through photos from Portugal to Norway, I am reminded of my experience. Not to say you can’t reflect as you travel, but being in the backdrop of home, surrounded by all that is familiar, lends a sense of reflection on the experiences I have had and the people I have met while traveling this summer that is unlike any other. Perhaps it is the sentiment of being away from the unknown amidst the known that allows for mediation and rumination on travel itself.
Time to reflect on travel and think of new cheesy photo opportunities
Do you like to go home in between travels? Do you think it is important or not vital to the travel process?
I think going home after travel really helps you appreciate how that travel has affected you. If you’ve been gone for a while, you get to take time to realize the ways in which you’ve changed – or how home has changed – since you’ve been away. You can take time to look at the place you’ve just been through a different lens, and examine the lessons you may have learned. Reflection is important.
And, sometimes, perhaps you’ll be reminded of the things you’ve missed about “home,” too. Too often I think we travelers focus all our energy on that next plane ticket; that next adventure. But being able to appreciate simply relaxing at home is important, too, in my opinion.
What I like about being an expat is having my home set up in another country, I kinda feel like I’m still travelling but I’m not. After 2 months travelling around China I was so ready to settle into a new home in Shanghai, to stop moving, to be able to spend hours in a supermarket, to not feel like I had to fill up every free moment with something to do (though it took a good 2 weeks 2 get out of that habbit!). I sometimes wonder if I’m just too domestic to ever feel like I could do the whole long term travel thing. I like to have a home to go to, it’s like a holiday from the stresses of travel. I always find that when I’m back in a home environment I can really reflect on my travels, really appreciate the experiences and I think as a result my writing is much better. When I look at everything I’ve ever written on the road always I hear an overtired undertone throughout! It’s nice to be able to look back on the experience with a fresh mind fuelled by adequate hours of sleep and quality coffee to really do the stories justice!
You are not alone. Sometimes you need space to be able to reflect on experiences from travel, in fact I’ve heard from a few people that they didn’t really appreciate their time in India until 6 months after they left.
I think one of the things that keeps me away from longterm travel is that you have absolutely no time to stop and reflect on the beautiful experiences and memories you’ve just created. As I’ve gotten older I’ve really tried to stop myself from thinking about my next travels while I’m traveling and focusing on being more present. I haven’t mastered it yet, but I’m trying!!! I hope you have a safe flight back home. I’m sure your family is excited to see you!
I completely agree! I’m not ashamed to admit I miss home and familiarity when I’m traveling for long periods of time. I can’t ever really see myself traveling non-stop. Travel, especially traveling on a shoestring, reminds me to appreciate everything I have in my life. It also gives me a new sense of wonder that carries into my daily life at home. Great post!
I always go home after travel because I have to work to make more money to travel again! I’ve never saved up enough to keep me on a RTW trip forever and ever. The longest trip I’ve ever been on was just under a month, however I have traveled to many places 🙂 Great post, I’m sure you will want to travel again very soon.
PS I also love that you are treating the Colosseum like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the picture hahaha 🙂
Absolutely travel is intense and tiring! I love all the wacky and interesting things along the way, but I also LOVE the energy I feel coming home. Not just to be in my own familiar space again with friends and family, but the enthusiasm I feel for the world infuses into my daily ordinary life too.
Just like traveling offers perspective on your life, coming home does too. It’s important to remember we have an identity going beyond traveler.
I was starting to get anxiety over heading home in November, but now I’m actually looking forward to it. I can’t wait to catch up on some sleep and see my friends and family that I’ve dearly missed. It will be fun to catch up on blogging and sifting through photos (I have yet to post a thing about Jordan and I went there back in April!). After recuperating, I’m sure I’ll want to hit the road again, but it will be nice to indulge in some Mexican food and use a washing machine!
Go home, chill out, be inspired. You’ll be on the road within weeks, I’m sure of it. 😉
I felt the same way after we did our RTW. There were places that were magical and awe-inspiring, but some days I just wanted to have a fish taco and relax on my couch. There is something, for me, that is comforting about having a home, a place to return to. Knowing that I’m welcome and supported and loved is important. And it’s true- about a week after I was home, I started planning our next trip! Welcome back to the U.S.A. I’m sure you’ll be dreaming of Italy very soon!
I can’t believe your trip is over already! I totally agree it’s a good thing to go home for awhile to process everything you’ve seen, learned, and experienced–as well as just relax and unwind. Most of us with workaday lives need vacation travel as our escape; I can’t help but think the opposite is true of long-term travelers–you need to go home and be in one comfortable place for awhile to “escape”. Then before long, you’ll be dreaming of your next trip again.
I agree with most in here. Before our year long RTW, our longest trip had been 20 days. When we first left on our trip, we thought we’d want to stay gone forever, but after a while, travel became a bit monotonous, and we certainly didn’t appreciate it as much. We went through a lot of highs and lows where if we could have afforded it, we would have taken a break and come home for a bit to recharge.
I admire those who can just go travel for an indefinite amount of time, but that just isn’t for us. In fact, I really think a year was too long for us. We could have been gone for longer, and it would have been financially smarter for us to stay abroad at that time, but we were just ready to come home. Now that we’ve been home for nearly a year (UGH!) without more than a few long weekend trips, we are itching in a bad way. Now the challenge is to find a balance, a way to get out on the road for more than a week a year without having to quit our jobs and give everything up at home. We know we don’t want to do that.
But when there’s a will, there’s a way, and travel is too important to us to just throw our hands up and say we can’t do this and settle for our two weeks a year.
Great post, Suzy, and I love all the comments thus far. It’s great to see so many different people’s perspectives.
I completely get this. We try to make it home to visit family and friends every year or two – it’s important to feel grounding and also to enjoy the great things of home and the great things of the road. The longer we travel, the easier we tire out and become a bit jaded. So, we try to take longer breaks in places (i.e., 2 months in Berlin right now) to be still, recharge batteries, unpack the backpack and just enjoy the small things in the neighborhood.
Traveling and traveling and traveling and traveling – it’s not for me either. It is tiring, like you say. How so many people just go on and on is amazing. The first time I traveled abroad I couldn’t wait to get to the next place, just because everything was so new and thrilling, so I didn’t mind packing up again every few days. Now, though, I think it’s much more interesting spend a long time in one place so I can absorb it.
I like your point about needing the difference of home to put travel into perspective. I agree with it, too. Hence my M.O. to be gone for a month at a time. Rest up!
I always look for those moments of peace and restoration after traveling for long periods of time. It doesn’t always involve a return to my home town, it can be somewhere else I love and know where I can just relax for a couple of weeks. Too much of anything is not good for you. You do get very blase and unappreciative of the travel after awhile. I have been home now for over a month and I’m ready to start smelling the roses again.
Suzy,
I think coming back home from a trip is a great filter through which to view and “process” the travel experience. I find that how you felt about a trip changes depending on whether you… 1) are in the middle of the trip, 2) have just returned or 3) have been back for three to six months.
Nice post.
Jason
Im feeling this way after 4.5 months of non-stop travel. But “home” is simply too far away, and too expensive to get there. So, Im going to find a new “home” and “settle” in there for a while. Let the next adventure begin!