Take off your shoes. Watch some TV. Relax. You’ve just done four months’ hard time traveling, and it’s time to return home.
Photo: srbyug
But what to do now? All you know is travel. Will you stay for a few weeks and fly out to your next adventure, or settle for months, even years, before making plans to backpack Kilimanjaro?
Photo: Daisy’s Little Cottage
You should be prepared for how such an extended stay at home will change you; all your experiences traveling up to the present have rewired your brain chemistry for the better, but it’s only a matter of time before you adapt to the comforts and trials of the domestic life.
How can you tell you’re really planning to stay home for a while?
1. You speak about your countrymen in the first person again.
No longer do you engage in conversations abroad with random foreign travelers and speak of the people with whom you share nationality in the third person, strangers detached from your days on the road.
You find yourself empathizing with their domestic struggles as you eat the same foods, enjoy the same entertainment, and live in the same country once more.
2. You actually try to get a regular job.
Photo: star5112
The horror, the horror.
You can’t make part-time hours at a hostel fulfill your needs for things like food, housing, clothes, and Internet.
Maybe you want some stability; maybe you feel this job will be the one to take, the one to make you realize that the 9-5 isn’t so bad… nahhhh.
3. You buy laundry detergent.
Gone are the days when you simply stop by friends or family for a visit and deposit your backpack next to the washing machine to ensure a speedy load. No, you’re planning to stay long enough to use all 60 loads’ worth of detergent. Feel grounded now?
4. Your Couchsurfing profile is confirmed at home.
Now a Couchsurfing host, a surfer no more.
5. Food from home is not considered a “treat.”
You don’t have wander into a McDonald’s in Agra to satisfy your hamburger craving. You indulge at first, then realize that this food is nothing special, available everywhere and in bulk.
6. Driving feels more like a chore than a release.
Granted, some of us drive even when we’re traveling abroad, but it’s often in a new environment in lighter circumstances; rarely would we be that concerned with getting into work by 9:00, fighting traffic, and stressing over “making good time.”
7. You don’t read as many travel stories.
Photo: theerin
It seemed like you had all the time in the world to read those books you let pile up. Now you’re once again surrounded by English bookstores, and all you want to do is get distracted by YouTube, Hulu, friends, parties, work, significant others. Reading takes a backseat when you stop stretching yourself.
8. You settle for less.
It’s the subtlest change of all to come to your attention. You start eating healthy; soon you’re consuming a few fast food lunches a week. You look for employment and settle for something that pays rather than a job you’d enjoy. You have friends, and don’t feel compelled to reach out of that circle to find new ones.
And, the worst of all… you understand why some people feel compelled not to travel. After all, everything you could possibly want is here: stability, good food, people who speak your language, familiarity. Why leave all that behind to see some distant corner of the world? Scary concept.
Community Connection:
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Why do we crave escape from the modern world? Steve Orchard explains.
Start planning your escape; Angie Teater offers her advice on ways to ditch the cubicle.
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10 Comments... join the discussion!
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I know as the mandatory “wait/save” years pass, it’s
sometimes easy to lose sight of the fact that it’s really worth it. trying my best to stay strong stay strong. though I’m only in that phase not the post trip phase, I can still empathize. I feel bad enough having a 40hr work week with rules regulations dress codes a jerk for a boss and a regular paycheck, always for the same amount. I guess even selling out can be a means to an end.(now, a digression) I’ve been working at corporate conglomerate enter level cvs job and it’s really wearing on me. I’m quitting next week to be in Fukuoka for a month (anyone want to lend a bed? =D) and I’m so excited for this phase to be over with. at least I’ve realized this isn’t the life for me. next phase, here I come <3
I really enjoyed that this article isn’t vastly one sided and admits to the allure(complacency?) of the homestead.
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I’ve been trying to justify that to myself now that I’m home for a few months, but I still feel the pull of the road.
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I think it’s easy to get the “Why leave all that behind to see some distant corner of the world?” feeling while still traveling. Home never seems sweeter than when you’re on the road.
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Sad, but so very true.
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Good list, although could have added a few more things. Number [8] is essentially the one that should be emphasised.
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I think it’s NORMAL to go back and forth being bored with home and then thankful for it. It’s part of being a traveler. It seems easier to accomplish more at home sometimes ( you aren’t wandering looking for food / shelter ). I just returned from traveling with someone that was THRILLED to be coming back home and it freaked me out. I wasn’t looking forward to it like she was. I wanted to keep going. I guess that’s why some people travel more than others. I was jealous that she was actually looking forward to getting back into her routine.
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Interesting story! I like 5 and 7 – sandwiches still seem kind of exotic or weird to me after so much time eating rice and noodles. And I wish, wish I had time to read the books that I hear about.
The good thing about coming back as a traveller is that you can take all that curiousity and awareness and apply it at home. The drawback is that your friends do think it’s a little strange that you want to make new friends as well and keep doing new stuff! Thebalance is out there somewhere…
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After travelling for 4 months now, this article scares me more then anything else. The thought of going back to that desk, with that view, and those robots tapping away at a keyboard *~shudder~*
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WWWAhhhhh, I see this happening to me in one short month. I want to avoid settling, ughghhg. How do I avoid dull conversation with those who really don’t seek such adventure?
Once I cross the great divide from one continent to the other….will I ever go back?
Will I find my cooking ingredients at home in suburbia?↵
