Here is our travel map…looks like an insane person planned this trip.  🙂

Now that we are home and settled in we wanted to post a blog about the transition. We loved blogging so much that we still plan on it from time to time, but that doesn’t mean you have to read it! So, here is our disclaimer! You can opt out from getting our emails on our page or shoot me an email and I will remove you. You can still go to our page at any time to read if you’d like.

– March 10^th ~ Two weeks before Greg and I come home.

Coming home after so many months of traveling is another new experience for us.  There are tons of emotions flying around in my head.

* Excitement to see our missed family, friends and pets,

* Sad that our travel journey is over (for now),

* Thrilling but also scary to jump in to our same life with a completely new outlook,

* Nervous that our new outlook will be swallowed up with my old routines and mindset, whatever that was.

* Comfort in jumping back in to a world that we know. As in, I can read the menus in the restaurants, know the customs and how things work, how to get around, I ‘get’ the people, and I don’t need to figure out everything from scratch, no need to memorize where I live or my room # and lastly when I wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom I will know which direction it is in!  (Case in point…while in Chiang Mai, Thailand Greg split his forehand walking in to a wall trying to find the bathroom in the middle of the night! Luckily I had a butterfly bandage in my arsenal.)

* Eager to see how my new perspectives and interests manifest themselves.

* Confusion as to what “settle in” really means to us now.

* Anxious that our uncomplicated lives will become complicated.  I mean, it’s been no secret whom we are having breakfast, lunch or dinner with, or what we are going to do today, or who do we make plans with…it’s only been the two of us for the majority of the trip.  So, there ya have it.  The two of us are dining and then exploring together. Shocker.

* I feel that I’m already mourning the loss of my 24 hour built in soulmate, buddy and best friend. Of course we will still be together a ton, but not as the comfy Siamese twins that we are today.

– March 24th…just landing on US soil:

After landing in LA following a 10 hour flight from Japan we turn on our cells with our US SIM cards re-installed after months of non-use, then rush off to our hotel.  Once we landed and heard everyone speaking English, it at first seemed overwhelming. It felt like I was eavesdropping on everyone. I guess after months of tuning out the non-English conversations all around me it was weird to all of a sudden understand everything.  I also felt a pride to be back in my home country…feeling very patriotic!  My emotions were hard to pin point.  I kept feeling the urge to cry, but why?  Happy and super excited to be on our home soil?  Touched by my patriotic emotions.  Sad to have our experience of a lifetime come to an end?  Yes, yes and yes.

Adjusting to a 13 hour time difference, new schedules, new lives to some degree and the realization that our world of daily new discoveries and in-depth, undistracted quality time together has come to an end has left my tired body in tears.  As in the ugly cry face kind of tears.  Where did all those months go?  I’m not actually even home yet since we are in LA overnight to see our buddy KK, but nonetheless I’m still a blubbering fool.  My body thinks it’s 8am (Japan time), it’s 4pm in LA and it is 7pm in Maryland so I’m all screwed up.  I’m putting myself down for a nappy poo. Hopefully my ugly cry face will improve with some rest.

– June 26…have been home for three months:

Adjusting…yes. Adjusted…maybe.  Isn’t life always changing and causing you to re-adjust?

How have we changed? Have we changed? When will we travel again? What were our big takeaways?  Would we do a trip like this again? What do we miss the most about life on the road? What are we the happiest about being home?

All questions that I have had, have been asked and we are still asking ourselves.

The bottom line is, yes, we did change…but doesn’t everyone when they experience something new?  The trick is (or hard part is) reminding yourself what you learned and what you want to keep with you that makes you a better, happier, more peaceful, loving and compassionate person.  It’s hard when plopping back in to an old routine to not, well, pick back up old patterns, perspective and attitudes.

Cabo Trip

To lighten up a bit, I’m super excited that our friends back home really embraced us when we arrived.  Some even joining in on some of our new interests…like meditating.  We went to Cabo with the Lyles and Mouls and they meditated with us almost daily. They had reservations (particularly Mr. High Energy David), but eagerly tried and LIKED it!  Cha-Cha and Robin meditated with me the morning after we went to the Miley Cyrus concert (yes, Miley…long story).

Derby Party w the Freemans

Although our experiences changed our perspectives & interests and such, our core personalities will always remain the same. Right? According to the Freemans, they were psyched that we are “still the same people.”  Phew!  If anything, we are closer with friends and family now.  We’ve been hanging with the family a ton and really cherish the time and appreciate it more than ever.  I also have found that I’m mushier.  My niece, Lily, just graduated from high school and I cried several times!  Next year it will be her brother, Tyler, graduating and I don’t think I’ll be any better at holding back the tears.

It sounds silly, but the hardest part for me has been adjusting to not being with Greg as intensely as during our travel days.  We had solid one on one time sprinkled with tons of learning, interesting sites, fun challenges, etc.  We had deep conversations daily, but now it’s less frequent and I’m sharing his attention with many other avenues.  I mean, how can I hop in to a deep discussion right away after a grocery store visit. (By the way, eating what we want, when we want has been fabulous!)  It comes more naturally to hop in to a deep discussion about the world and politics when in Cambodia and we stumble on a political protest where people are fighting for democracy. That’s some interesting juice to talk about!

So, some concrete or material changes.  Bottom line is we DO NOT need STUFF to make ourselves happy.  If anything it complicates ones life.  So, I no longer take myself or my material items so seriously.

* I did just fine with one small piece of luggage carrying non-designer clothes.  If anything I now cherish well made clothes that can last a long time.

* I recycle as much as possible and give away as much as possible.  EVERYTHING can be used by somebody.  Within two weeks from being home I went through my closet and gave away half of it.  Honestly, after having just a limited clothing selection for so long, my closet totally overwhelmed me.  I was used to picking from 5 long sleeved shirts, 5 short-sleeved or tank shirts, two shorts, etc.  Besides, how many people can I make happy with half of my clothes!  More than just me!!!  We saw so much poverty that I just want to give, share or donate whatever I can.  We saw adorable kids in SE Asia wearing dirty pajama bottoms and shirts covered I filth in the middle of the day because that is all that they had.  But guess what…they were smiling! 🙂

* I had a fat Range Rover that we sold before we left for our trip.  When I came home I bought a Mini Cooper.  Why? It makes me laugh whenever I look at it. Also, I have a small dog, a cat and no kids. WHAT the heck do I need with a gas guzzler like the Rover!  The Mini really does make me laugh.  I noted this twice because as I sit here and type I’m smiling thinking about that cute little wind up toy car.  It is even environmentally friendly…it turns off when at stop lights, etc.  Not to judge…I still do love the Range Rover, it’s just not right for me at this time.

We have put a lot of thought around things that we want to remind ourselves about and hold on to.

* Be thankful for the comforts of living in the US…running clean water, paved roads, access to solid healthcare, political stability, and food that we know won’t make us sick.  In many cases while traveling I felt like each meal was like playing Russian Roulette…ya never know which one will take you down.

* No drama. We are trying to be conscious about not feeding in to negativity.

* Have compassion.  I don’t know a person’s story and having compassion vs perhaps being mad or judgmental is a much happier place to come from, plus perhaps compassion can help elevate the other person to a better place.

* Try not to judge or compare. Doesn’t matter how different or how similar our views are, people need to do what makes them truly happy (as long as it doesn’t hurt others).

* We are trying so hard to be mindful and live in the present. Why spend so much time dwelling on the past and planning for the future when the present is RIGHT NOW.  For example, when I’m at dinner with friends I want to enjoy them and the fabulous food…not check my cell phone all the time.

* Love your family and friends.  Greg and I feel so fortunate to have such fabulous people in our lives!  We really have had a lot of time to think about and treasure our relationships.  We want to make sure our friends and family all know that…so, I’m saying it now.  WE love you ALL!  Anyone reading this (and anyone that isn’t)…here is a HUG from us.

– September 13, 2014

Maybe I could have summed up this blog in one sentence: We love everyone and everything!  So, why post another blog now? We are off again on some more travels, which got our blog juices flowing. There is something about the anticipation and excitement that comes with traveling to a new, interesting place. I head to Italy with my dear friend Deena tomorrow and I meet up with Greg in Munich, Germany in a couple weeks before his crew of guys land to partake in Oktoberfest. Then, we are off to Miami for six months. Happily, the traveling continues…