Coming to America

The time is quickly approaching when I will board a ferry, snag a cab, hop on a plane to Bangkok, and then, after another 24 hours of traveling via Tokyo, I will return to my beloved and very missed home.

It is a bittersweet feeling to leave such a life of travel and return to more accepted routine. I can not wait to hug my family, see my friends, sleep on a bed with sheets, drink from a faucet, not be sick all the time, and have a hot shower with strong water pressure. Did I mention that I will eat a huge burrito faster than a dog eats a treat. I am done living out of a backpack and wearing the same two pairs of shorts...at least for now. The real world and responsibility are calling me back. Leaving a life filled of constant stimulation- learning about cultures and languages, seeing new places, and exploring some where new everyday- will certainly provide me with reverse-culture shock. Thus, I expect a barge of phone calls in the first few days I am home to aid in my re-adjustment. I get back on Wednesday, June 22nd in the morning. Crazy. Although it is not up and running yet, my cell phone number is still the same.

The last few days have been a great way to transition back. According to the U.N. and various other organizations and even the U.S. government, I left the "most repressive country in the world" that was devoid of travelers to arrive in the most touristy islands in Thailand filled to the brim with young, sunburned vacationers. It was easy to slip into the tourist role- spend more money, live better, eat healthier and cleaner, and do nothing. But I am done being a beach bum. It is super fun but the repetition gets quite boring, and I have never been good at vacationing.

I will bother you all with one more email, which I suspect will be rather long, in a few days time. I will also post the rest of my pics online. Writing these missives has brought me great pleasure and I thank you for bearing with my sometimes muddled jargon, poor grammar, and verbose reflections. Take care. I can't wait to see you all.