Hey guys! Long time, no talk- it’s been a little over 3 months since Evan and I got back from our extended honeymoon. It’s weird to think that we were gone for longer than we’ve been back in the United States, but the time back has felt a lot longer (not saying it hasn’t been great). Everyone says it, but there’s not really a way that you can prepare to be back in the country after going on a huge trip like that. I have devoted this post to trying to start unpacking and processing some of the things that I’m still holding onto about the trip.

We got home on December 8, 2022. Today’s date is March 17, 2023. When we got home, I remember the first few days being hard for all the reasons you’d expect: jet lag, fatigue, the unknowns of Evan starting his own business and our lives looking different in the day-to-day because we were living with our in-laws. But as the days continued, it has been hard not to feel like I have a tiny hole in my heart. Sometimes we’d be at a restaurant, a function, or the grocery store and Evan would just look over at me and sigh, “I miss our trip”. Sometimes that was followed by hours of reminiscing and sometimes I just replied “me too”. I hate the feeling of missing something, especially when you have to sit with the knowledge that what we had was likely a once in a lifetime experience.

The holidays were great because they distracted us a bit, we were thankful to be back for those key moments and caught up in the excitement of Christmas lights, shopping, and planning for the new year. I started school the first week of January and expected to be swept up and enthralled with the new classes and a new job, providing me a change of scenery just like we had experienced while traveling. And while all these things were awesome, it has been hard since the day we stepped off the plane not to think about that adventure and have my heart long for what it provided! As I think, I am going to make a list of the things that I miss the most from that time:

• Sleeping/allowing myself to rest. In the US, I really struggle with thinking that I don’t deserve to rest. Each morning at 5:30, my alarm goes off and I don’t usually give myself a choice to ignore it. When traveling, the lack of urgency allowed me to give myself a chance to rest. We usually woke up around 7:30 or 8 a.m.
• The way my body felt when I ate the food. It was a crazy phenomenon to me the way my body felt when I ate more whole, raw food without preservatives. I had more energy, felt cleaner, and less fatigued.
• Walking all the time. As two broke young people, Evan and I mostly participated in free activities. One of the best, cheapest thing to do anywhere is walk. We spent so much of our free time walking and just looking at all the new sights.
• Learning. When I took the Clifton Strengths test, I realized my top strength was learning. This is very consistent with my life, because one of the things I loved about this trip was that there was always something to learn! Whether it was reading exhibits at a history museum, listening on the free walking tours, or researching a place we saw that looked cool, I felt like I was always learning about something. This is different than my everyday life now (although I feel like I could try to implement this practice more).
• Being uncomfortable. Usually we were visiting countries where the first language wasn’t English. There were so many meals where we sat down and had no idea what they were serving us. We got yelled at a couple of times (one time I didn’t print out my bus ticket in Serbia and got my phone taken by the bus driver). All of these situations were uncomfortable, but they pushed me to grow. I miss that feeling of discomfort that shapes me into a stronger and more cultured person.
• Harnessing my creative outlets. I tried as hard as I could to take artsy photos from the right angle. I journaled almost daily, and I practiced my writing on this blog. Although I do content communications for a living, I miss choosing to spend time on these creative outlets for myself.
• Quality time with Evan. Although we do live together now in our own place, it is still very difficult in the hustle and bustle of life to even plan a date night. While we were abroad, it truly was like every night was date night. Evan and I had so much quality time where we had deep talks, watched shows, took walks, exercised, ate, saw new things, read books, and much more. After you spend so much time with your spouse, it can be hard to go back to “real life”.

These are just a few examples. And life has been going really, really well, so if you read this and hear complaining or sadness I hope that’s not what you get. To be honest, it’s been a crazy mix of emotions. It has also been a chance for me to try to take steps closer to what I feel is my true purpose (and asking God to help me figure that out). It was truly an amazing trip and our lives are amazing too, we are just waiting to hear what the Lord has for us and trying to be honest with emotions in the process! I hope to try to continue updating this site with more thoughts and of course, our travels because we know that will never change!

And with that… off to Los Angeles….. 🙂