June 04, 2014

I Can See The Pines Are Dancing

I'm a bit of a home-body.

Yes, I know what I just said.

But I am (believe it or not).

I'm a home-body who is able to separate the desire to be at home, and put it on the shelf, in order to fulfil my dreams of travel. When I am home, I like the comforts of it. Being near my home, spending time here, not wanting to leave. When you travel, for any period of time, the things you miss about home change as the days go by. Sometimes it's people. Sometimes it's work, cooking, scenery, sometimes it's just the simple pleasures of home [your own bed, a hot shower, the mindless ease of day to day routines]. But what you're seeing while you're away has so much more possession over you in that moment. It is overwhelming and all encompassing so that the 'misses' of home are fewer and less powerful. When I finally did arrive home, people far and close asked me a million post travel questions..

Besides the usual - what's your favourite? How was it?

A lot of the comments were things like ..

Were you sad to leave ?

Must suck coming home, hey ?

I could never have come back home after that.

So, of course, these crowds were overly surprised that the sorrow of leaving behind these beautiful places wasn't more powerful than my excitement of being home.

I missed my people. my job. my cat. my lifestyle. bundling up. the snow. cooking. of course ... the ocean. My ocean. The West Coast of Canada ocean... There are so many things to embrace and love here on Vancouver Island that it makes the travel "ends" bearable. It makes the return home easier, and comfortable.

I can't say that now, as I sift through my thousands of photographs, that I don't continue to think (and feel a longing) of how much I want to be back in that time, back at those places, feeling the excitement, the new, the learning. The anticipation of every new day, new city, new hotel. I love that. I miss that, every day. I also love being home. And I missed that every day.

.I love this.

.I love these moments.