It's been 8 months on the road. And I (Nate), am spent. I knew this was going to happen at some point, I just didn't know when. The first question I always asked long term travelers before leaving was, "don't you get tired of it?".
Well, I can answer now with confidence, yes, you do.
The grass is always greener on the other side right? You're stuck at your desk job and all you do is dream of sandy beaches and adventure. Well I've had plenty of sandy beaches and at this moment, all I crave is routine. Predictability. MY bed, a LIVING ROOM, and OH MY GOD, an American supermarket with all the goodness and variety it has to offer.
I knew it wasn't going to be easy before we left but I didn't know exactly how hard it could get. I'm seriously one click away from an Expedia ticket home right now. My wife Marta is a natural extrovert. Adventure comes to her easily. She is the sole reason we have had so many amazing experiences along this trip and for that I'm grateful. But it also exhausts me! I crave mundane!
But this is part of it right? Pushing your boundaries. Stepping outside your comfort zone. It allows you to discover a side of yourself you never knew existed. Before, when I wasn't comfortable or didn't know what to do I could always go home. I was always a natural home-body, a couch potato. Now, I have no home and it's through this process that I'm forced into new experiences, new opportunities that I would never have sought out otherwise.
As I sit here writing, with a second browser tab open and exhaustedly DREADING the purchase of our next tickets to _______, it is with those tickets that I also know new inspiration, new stories, new friends and a new me will arrive. And THIS... is the reason why I'm not coming home yet.
