When I landed back in the UK after being away for 2 years it was completely surreal. I felt almost shell shocked. I think it is situations like this that make your realise how much things have changed. This post outlines the main things I realised after I returned.
I Had Too Much Stuff
Maybe its living out of a suitcase. Maybe its that I realised I'd rather spend my money on travel than the things the glossy magazines tell you we need but coming home after 2 years and looking around my old room a had one thought. Why do I need all this Stuff? And 'stuff' it is. Piles of books, clothes, unwanted gifts, things that were once your 'style' and now you don't really like. Consumerism at its finest. I won't lie I still search clothing websites to see what I can buy but now I don't buy because I realise I don't NEED it. eBay and Charity shops became my fast friends as a way of offloading still good quality items in favour of giving them a new life.
Memories Fade Too Quickly
It is astonishing how quickly the memories of your travels fade from your mind. The everyday overtakes your brain and it seems to laser in to the same boring timeline that you had before you left. You find a job, you settle into homelife and work life and before you know it months have passed. They come rushing back though too. When you look through photos on your phone, you think that one time you were with that one person doing that one thing and a smile creeps across your face. At first i didn't like to think about my travels too much, firstly as i felt guilty when the response I tended to get was "all you ever talk about is Australia" and secondly as it was a bit painful to admit I was home. How I find I can think on it and remember in great detail smells, places and people without feeling too forlorn.
Too Foreign For There, Too Foreign for Home.
I have always honestly felt I don't fit in in my hometown. Maybe thats part of why travelling pulls me so much, maybe its the desire to see other countries, I'm not really sure. All I know is that the saying is true. Once you have lived abroad you feel like you don't fit in there but when you come home, you are too foreign for everything you once knew. Its a little difficult to explain but the feeling is there.
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