Going Home

Hey everyone!  It's been a while!

Sunrise on the first flight home

When I got that new job in May, I got busy.  Way, way busier than I ever anticipated.  Lesson planning until 8 pm every day, going to bed at 9 pm, and then waking up at 5:30 am in order to make it to my school every morning.  It was a lot.

Which brings me to my next big move- the decision to move back to the US.

Around mid-June, my agency was asking if I wanted to teach at my school again next school year.  This sparked a debate in me, and ultimately called the question of what I wanted my life to look like in the short term.

On one hand, I loved the kids in my classroom.  Being in the classroom with my bright, funny, cheeky students made my day, and I still miss my kids.  On the other hand, I realized that I did not enjoy most of the aspects of teaching.  I spent evenings anxious over lessons, unable to join my friends for a beer in the evenings due to planning, unsure of whether I was creating worksheets at the difficulty level because math is taught differently in the Czech Republic.  I was exhausted, physically and mentally.

I also realized how much I missed feeling settled somewhere.  I wanted to be able to have my own apartment, my own cat, my own home.  I was nearing 28 years old and tired of the yearly moves that characterized the last 10 years of my life.  I realized that I wanted to lay down roots somewhere, and that it would be much easier to do that in the US than it would be in Europe.

So I ultimately decided to move back to the US.  About three weeks ago, I arrived back home.

Now, this doesn't mean I've given up travel.  One thing I've learned about myself over the past couple years is that I need to travel in order to maintain my motivation; without a trip to look forward to, I get bogged down in my routine.  I just want to travel from a home base somewhere in the US.

What does that mean for the blog?  Well, I'm still going to keep writing about travel (I did a lot of traveling around Europe after I finished my work commitments and I want to share it!), but I also want to explore the issues related to coming back, because the reverse culture shock is real.  And maybe I'll delve into some other subjects as well.  Like me, the blog will grow and evolve, and we'll just have to wait and see what happens next!