At the risk of sounding like a spoiled, whiny yuppy, I'm just going to come out and say it: coming back to reality after an incredible trip abroad sucks. I spent 11 glorious days traveling in Colombia with two of my best friends in the world, and most of that time was spent with our wonderful hostesses - two other close friends who live in Cartagena, right on the coast.
We had the most perfect blend of adventures, scandals, funny moments, pampering, and lazy beach/poolside time. We met strangers from all over the globe who quickly became friends. We got massages and manis and pedis and various other "spa services". We traveled by boat from one beach to another. We laughed at each other's pathetic Spanish skills (okay, so mostly it was them laughing, justifiably, at me. Apparently "escuchame" means "listen to me", not "excuse me". oops). We stayed out late and "salsa danced" (note the quotations). The weather was perfect. The company was perfect. It was the kind of experience that you return from wanting to share with everyone.
I thought that by the time it was over, I'd be ready to get back to real life. That I'd be ready to sleep in my own bed, spend time with my other friends and family, have hot showers, go back to work, and generally be a productive member of society.
I thought wrong.
The last few days have been a really difficult adjustment. They've been lonely - polar opposite from the previous 11, spent in the company of friends 24/7. When something you've been anticipating for so long comes and goes, there's this feeling of "what next?" What is there to look forward to now?
Although it's normal to feel like this at the end of something big (we've all heard about the post-wedding depression that many brides experience after their wedding day is over, for example), I'm really trying to put the whole thing into perspective. There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for, and excited about. Maybe it's not something as big as a South American adventure, but it's important to find joy in the small things as well: celebrating with a newly-engaged friend, having a date night with my husband, that first long outdoor spring run, spending time with my my sister when she's home for spring break.
It's also important to be grateful for the relationships that make the "big things" possible. I'm nothing short of blessed by having close friends with whom to go on travel adventures, and friends who are LIVING the adventures and are willing to host vacationers. I'm blessed by having a husband who is not only supportive of "girls only" trips, but almost insistent upon me taking them. These are the permanent intangibles that make life wonderful... not just the brief physical experiences themselves.
So today I'm choosing to stop with the "my vacation is over" pity party, and just be grateful. Grateful for the experience and the memories, grateful for the people in my life. And grateful for the every-day things that are worth smiling about.
