5 Best Things About Coming Back From A Long-ish Vacation

My wife and I just recently got back from a great 3 weeks away.  We were in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.  It was fantastic, I think I gained 10 pounds from dumplings alone and don't even get me started on the amount of moonshine I had, I'm surprised I can still see.  But one of the purest pleasures of traveling which we have all experienced is stepping in the front door to your own home for the first time in a while.  For me, the below are the top five things I love about coming home.

5.) It smells like home.

One of the subtle things I like about traveling is that different countries smell differently.  It has to do with the plants that grow there, and the kinds of food people eat, it's proximity to water; all these things add up to give different areas of the world different smells.  Sometimes they can be jarring and according to Isaac Asimov we aren't supposed to talk about it.  Anyway, these foriegn smells make that first step into your own home all the better.  I have no idea what scents my wife uses to keep our home smelling the way it does, and fuck knows I certainly don't freshen the air, but our place smells great and it's very nice coming home after being away from it.

4.) Water from the tap.

Depending on where you are coming from this may not be an issue, but after brushing my teeth with bottled water for a few weeks I absolutely love the convenience of being able to use the tap.  Now, some people would say that you will be fine just brushing your teeth with the tap water in most places, but with so little vacation every year who wants to risk being sick for it? And that doesn't even mention having a big glass of water to drink right from the tap - love it.  The first thing I do whenever I get back from a trip is take a pint of glass from the tap and down it.

3.) Your own bed

I don't think this one needs elaboration.  Unless your bed sucks, it is 100% better than any hotel bed, even really nice hotels.

2.) Literacy

Although it's fun getting off a plane in an Arab country, or Asia, or in my most recent case Russia, and not being able to read the words written everywhere - it is a really interesting feeling to be surrounded by signs and ads that you don't understand.  But it also REALLY makes you appreciate being able to read so easily when you make it home.  When walking around your home town you take for granted being able to read everything around, but for the first day or two back, you notice how convenient it is again.

1.) Home cooking

Food in other countries is interesting and often delicious, but nothing beats the food coked at your home.  When I was growing up my mom made (and still does) killer lasagna, and now my wfe makes a ton of great food and when we are away I miss it.

Anyone else who has some interesting points about coming please share them with me, I would love to hear other people's points of view.

Life In Mexico

Now, I know what you are thinking.  Mexico, as a travel destination who gives a crap.  I'm not super interested in girls going wild, nor am I interested in drinking myself into a come on tequila.  More sympathetic, I could not be.  As anyone who knows me can attest I usually prefer my travels to be a little more cultural...or at least I like to be able to tell myself I am pursuing culture while I get wasted in far flung lands.  So, when the wife suggested Mexico I stifled a chuckle.

Well, she explained to me how a beautiful migration takes place into the gulf just off Cancun.  Not only do scantily clad ladies show up and shake their bits for attention but other foes of life also show up and make a much subtler exposition.  The whalesharks show up in the waters off Cancun in the summer and drive a whole industry of nature lovers to brave the waves off of party central.

I guess I should explain that normally when I travel I like nature.  I am a real fan of going and checking out landscape.  I love to go to places that look nothing like anywhere I have been and just soak it in.  I have never been the hugest wildlife watcher.  I have seen whales in the pacific and grizzlies in Yellowstone, but it has never really been something I sought out.  But I have, for a few years, wanted to swim with whalesharks...something about the "gentle giants" - 30 - 40 ft fish that would swim by without a care in the world always attracted me.

So, we set off to Mexico, with a  few good friends in tow, and had a look.

I can safely say that swimming with the whalesharks was the #1 travel highlight of my life.  There is something about a creature the size of a bus swimming by you and feeling completely safe that, for lack of a better word, blows your mind.  These fish are easily big enough to tip the boat over that you showed up in, but are so uninterested in you that it leaves you with a sense of awe....sort of like how a person wouldn't be interested if there were 5 or 6 squirrels hanging around them while they had lunch.

Living in the city you are constantly surrounded by things that are dead - the sidewalk, the street, every building you see - and there is something really refreshing about being surrounded by life.  If you are lucky enough to be surrounded by 10 tonnes of fish, who want nothing more than to enjoy a snack with or without an audience, you may get a sense of why nature, and life is so special.  And hopefully, it will give you just the tiniest sense of wonder.