This is just a brief interruption from my Euro-stories to tell you about what I’m up to this Fall,. We’ve actually been home from Europe for a couple of weeks now and pretty much everyone is asking us “where to next?” My answer is shocking, even to me.
Nowhere.
We’re not going anywhere. Not for the rest of 2012. After two straight years of near constant travel, spinning the globe like a top, we’ve come to rest at my mother’s house in DC (for now! My restless heart shrieks).
Why??
Mostly, because we need a break. Mike has been traveling almost non-stop for over three years now, and me for two. Asia, Australia, back to Asia, the US, South America, the US, back to Oceania and then Europe. Something like 20 countries in less than 24 months by my count, not to mention back and forth across the US several times.
So the short answer is, I’m tired. Money and work are big factors as always, but mainly I need some normalcy in my life. I want to cook dinners, to see my friends, maybe eventually get this whole wedding thing planned. I want to celebrate the holidays with my family for once.
Of course as a place to be semi-permanently, you could do worse than DC. There’s always stuff going on here- last week was DCWeek and this week I’m busy doing several fun travel blogger things. There’s sites to see, things to explore, discoveries to be made even as someone who has lived her the better part of my life. Best of all there is a ton of really, really great international food.
I won’t say it’s not a little scary. For a restless heart like mine, it seems that sitting still is the biggest challenge of all. Nearly daily I have the impulse to search for flight deals, or pitch a travel idea. The world has so many possibilities, so many places to go, but today I may not even leave the house. I’m trying to learn to slow down, to be still.
The one thing that helps a lot though (and that will certainly cheer you guys up) is that I KNOW it’s only temporary. We’re going to base ourselves here in DC for awhile, but we’ll be traveling more in 2013 I’m quite sure. We’ve got ideas big and small and very, life changingly big. There are things in the works already- exciting things. So that keeps me in check.
The other thing that calms me is that I KNOW I will never run out of things to say on this blog. Even if I never travel again (a terrible thought), my heart is full of travel. I have endless essays to write about how, where and why you should travel. I will never stop lecturing you guys.
So that’s where we are right now- trying to find zen at the kitchen table. For now.
