Hey!! Happy almost New Year! Hope everyone’s got some exciting plans–I’m actually going to be spending New Year’s Eve in an Airbnb in South Boston with my boyfriend! Check out this super cute loft at the top of this post!
I have also since ARRIVED BACK IN THE US!!! Oh my gosh it is so good to be home. I had no idea my Europe trip would have this effect on me but guess what: I am now super grateful for even the simplest pleasures back home. Having calls and texts on my phone for one! Having 4G data! Public transportation that makes sense! Being able to understand what people at tables next to me in restaurants are saying!! No language barrier!! So many things.
It’s also really made me realize it’s the people that make a place special, not any intrinsic aspect of the place, and definitely not any tourist aspect of a place. I can look at old buildings and museums all I want and eat at as many restaurants by myself as I want, but at the end of the day it’s the people that make a place what it is.
I have never been one to be attached to “home”, like I’m was not at all attached to my hometown or California when I left for college, and I was not at all sad about leaving the US when I set out for Oxford. But now…I’m starting to see the appeal. I’m starting to see why “traveling” isn’t at the top of everyone’s priority list. I can understand why it’s sometimes nice to just stay in your country, in your town, and see the same people and friends and family on every holiday or occasion. Because familiarity is nice.
I used to prize discomfort. In the sense that…well, it was two-fold. On the one hand I was always proud of myself for surviving whatever discomfort it was, from sleeping in a 6-person bunk train compartment on an overnight train in China to living in a bungalow that didn’t have hot water or a flushing toilet in Thailand. I prided myself on just how much I could dirtbag it. And on the other hand, I prized discomfort in the sense that it makes you a better person. That sounds cliche. And I’m okay with it. Because it’s really what I believe in. I’m always comfortably outside my comfort zone and it’s something I pride myself on.
Now…I’m finally coming around to seeing the comfort of familiarity. And it’s nice. 🙂 It’s a nice realization. And it doesn’t mean I won’t travel again…in fact that will probably not be true, with a 100% chance. But do you know what I mean?
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Anyway, I’m just so glad to be back. More on my US adventures next week! And Happy New Year!!
~Em