A short bus ride, two plane rides, and one layover later I am finally home! Trust me when I say there is nothing like spending nearly 3 weeks in a foreign country away from your family to make you homesick. In fact, I think I took the whole homesick thing a little too literally while I was gone because I actually gotsuper sick about two weeks into the trip! At one point it was so bad I called my mom asking if I could come home early. I’m definitely really glad I stayed though. (More on all of that later…) Yesterday was my first day home and I still have yet to upload and sort through all the thousands of photos I took, but you can see some photos that I posted during the trip on my Instagram.
Like I said before, being away from home and away from your family gives you a whole new appreciation for some of the things you probably take for granted in your everyday life. For example, I didn’t realize how much I would miss eating dinner at home! I generally love going out and trying new restaurants , but after being gone for so long, the only thing I wanted (besides my sushi dinner on the way home from the airport #sorrynotsorry) was a home cooked dinner and mellow night with my parents. When we finally got home Monday night I was so happy to be home that I literally kissed the ground in my room. Seriously, this is not an exaggeration. I also really missed the smell of fresh laundry. Living out of a suitcase for 18 days and having rewear some clothes without washing them in between was not ideal. I also really missed having my car! It can be so easy to forget what a luxury it is to have your own car and to be able to go wherever you need to whenever you want!
Most importantly though, I missed my family. My mom and I talk constantly every day and between the time change and limited cell-service/wifi, that was nearly impossible. I got to Skype with my parents a few times while I was gone, but honestly that sometimes made the homesickness worse – I could see them, but I couldn’t actually be with them.