Photo by Chris Evans.
There’s a difference between thinking about travelling and actually doing it.
A few years ago my husband was enamoured with the idea of travel. He spent his entire childhood in the same province and only ever lived in two different houses while growing up as far as I know. To him the idea of going somewhere new was exciting.
To me it was old hat. I moved eight times growing up, and while we only lived in three different states the act of packing up and going somewhere new happened often enough that as an adult I’m not particularly keen on repeating the experience. I like the familiarity of staying in the same place year after year, of not starting over fresh in a brand new city or town. Yes, eventually you will meet new people and know where to find the best of everything, but that kind of knowledge takes time to build.
This is one of those things that doesn’t have a right or wrong answer. It’s perfectly ok to love travelling or to loathe it, to wish to move every six months or to hope to stay in the same place for the rest of your life.
It’s been interesting to see how our opinions on the topic have shifted in the nine years we’ve been together. I’m beginning to like travelling a little more. It’s exciting to visit a new town and try something unique to that area. There is something to say for breaking out of old routines and forging new ones for what you already know is going to be a limited amount of time.
But it’s also great to go back home. The end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 included a lot of travel for my husband and me. We enjoyed our trips, but I’m happy to be home. Routines can be so soothing.
One of our neighbours has the friendliest dog in the world. If you so much as glance in her direction she will bounce over for as many head rubs and ear tickles as she can squeeze out of you before it’s time to part ways. It’s impossible to meet this dog without grinning, and I am thrilled to cross her path when we meet. This is just one of the many small ways in which it feels so good to be home.
If you’ve travelled recently, I’d love to know what you missed most about wherever you call home while you were gone.