Contradictions of Wanderlust

A NOTE UPON RETURN

And we're back! Here we are, having sighed it's good to be home like most folks upon return from a vacation, as they step through the front door and drop their bags. But then I've been known to say that after a trip to the mall and dropped the grocery bags in the kitchen. So what's really going on when we say that? 

The adventurous traveler mostly returns from holiday with a stack of crumpled boarding passes and a bunch of mixed emotions... 

Sad to stop adventuring, although it's good to be back. Live happily like a vagabond, but definitely need some stability and the paid employment (travelling may not be a job, but can be damn hard work). Oh, the excitement of seeing the world... familiar mattress and pillow please. Love flitting from here to there, but isn't it nice not to have to rummage around in a suitcase for clean nickers and socks.

It's complicated. It's the ebb and flow. It's appreciating home because we've been away from it; it's enjoying the freedom and exhilaration of travel because home is waiting for us at the end of the adventure. If we've loved our destination, uncovered a deep connection, there is the strong pull to return, even though a deeper reality - home - is usually stronger. I don't know a different sensation than that of 'I must get back'. That's not everyone's feeling though - is it yours? I would love to hear your thoughts.

I won't keep you with a heap of holiday stories. I'll sort out my holiday snaps, see what might be interesting to share from time to time. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Although here is something I can't resist from my first visit to Sweden...

 

 

Above, the view from our Stockholm apartment window... a stoic sun resolving to set in
the Land of the Midnight Sun. In summer the sun sets above the horizon, so the gold fades
but not the light. The time is about 10.30 p.m.
Below, barely a few hours later, and viewable in the window next to the one in the pic above,
the sun rises on a new day; it's about 4 a.m. and the sun is high and the light is pearly.

 

 

 

With that promising vibe, and with that pesky jetlag finally fading, it's back to work :)

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