Don't wake me up
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Touch down in Chicago, Illinois, the first step onto American soil in five months I’ve noticed a few changes. 1. No one says “Welcome Home” anymore, I mean, come on guys it’s not that hard, you have my passport that tells you how long I’ve been gone. 2. There is no Chick-Fil-A in the O’Hare Airport, which is just unacceptable (I’m starting a movement to get Chick-Fil-A in Europe.) 3. Everyone is speaking a language I can understand.
Layovers are terrible, you either have too much time or not enough and you always seem to be nervous. Do I have enough time to go through customs? Did I fill out the paperwork right? This might just be me considering my past with immigration, but after a long trip abroad it is also your first step towards adjusting back to the “real world.”
Traveling is a fantasy world. Seeing places you never thought you’d see, meeting people you never thought you’d meet and trying foods you never though you’d taste is a dream you are forced to wake up from the minute you touch back down in the States. Coming out of a daydream like this one will take some time.
Adjusting isn’t always easy. You learn quickly that people only want to know the answers to three questions: “Did you just have so much fun?” “What was your favorite place?” “Didn’t you miss home?” Once you realize you can’t answer these questions without launching into an epic tale about that one time in Vienna when you went on a biking wine tour and it snowed while the sun was out, Patrick ripped his pants, and you climbed to the top of a cliff overlooking the wine country, you shorten your answers to a few words while nodding and smiling ridiculously.
After the initial week of reconnecting with friends, sleeping in your own bed and consuming as much Chick-Fil-A as possible (my favorite food if you can’t tell) reality sets in. You are put back on the work schedule and are too afraid to look at your bank account (I refuse to check for fear it could be negative). The devastation of realizing your days of going out drinking without the fear of getting a DUI are gone and because of the laws provided by the European Union Schengen Agreement, you are stuck in reality for 90 days before you can go back to the dream world.
Reality isn’t all terrifying. On your many weeks traveling around you learn to appreciate certain things you have at home. Whether a car, walk-in closet, steady income, a parents hug, working, lunch with friends, or just sitting and being by your self it doesn’t take long to make a list of all the things you want to do when you get home. Personally, I missed wandering aimlessly around Target, sitting in an empty room and reading, and going to breakfast with my family and friends, oh, and not smelling like a backpack or dirty clothes.
It is hard when your friends decide they don’t want to hear the story about how you skipped through the streets of Budapest singing “Blazin’ a trail” with your new friend who they are skeptical even exists for the umpteenth time. And it is hard when you realize your backpack has a fine layer of dust on top of it from not being used. But it gets easier. Remember your bed is still as comfy as it was when you left, your friends still want to get breakfast with you, and there is always an adventure waiting in your own backyard.
I bought a giant world map that covers half of my bedroom wall. It has pins to go in every place that I have been. I always knew the world was a big place but man do I have a lot of exploring to do. Remember if you never come home from one adventure you can’t ever start your next one. The real world sucks, but without it there is no excitement or anticipation for the next trip waiting around the corner.
