Homecoming

It s crazy to think that it s been ten months. Ten months of wandering without a real agenda, spending our life savings in the same four outfits, sans makeup, and despite a fear of flying. We have missed births, weddings, performances, and family dinners.  We have gained new friends, a sense of adventure, and a willingness to say yes and make fools of ourselves. We have learned the world isn t as scary as it looks in the news.

As Cale put it: since we ve been away, my favorite restaurant has closed (Kingfish), and my favorite brewery (Elysian) has been bought by Budweiser. It s time to come home.

As we plan our first week back home, I have realized that although I have been thinking a lot about it, I haven t really planned any real next steps. That part is a bit scary but seeing friends and family, and good old grey Seattle, is very exciting for us.

Luckily we have had our first taste of the USA in Hawaii with the in-laws.  We came back to real sidewalks! Where people can walk and cars/motorbikes don t try to run you over! We came back to bitter beer and new jeans (an item we strategically left out of our backpacks)!  Actually the very first thing we noticed, immediately after exiting the airport, was that cars stop for you at crosswalks and you don t have to just step into traffic and start praying in order to cross the street.

We had an amazing week in Hawaii with family and we re on our way home tomorrow!

Our last meal in Vietnam