The Travel Chica

Live Simple. Consume Less. Experience More.

One year ago

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One year ago, my flight from Buenos Aires landed in the United States.

I was home after a 20-month sabbatical.

 

I spent time with friends and family.  I took trips around the US while I decided which job offer to take.  I edited photos and kept up a good pace on this blog.

 

Then I entered Corporate America again.

 

I suddenly had very little free time.  During my free time, I felt torn between wanting to do nothing and relax, wanting to go for a run to relieve stress, and feeling like I had to catch up on the long to-do list that kept accumulating.

I felt so busy, yet I was also bored.

 

Weeks passed without picking up my camera.  Months passed without talking to my local friends.

I knew that life would be different when I returned to the US.  Different from my 20 months of travel.

But I was not expecting life to be drastically different from what it was like BEFORE I left to travel.

I guess I imagined life in Columbus as a jigsaw puzzle.

Photo by Flickr user Pablo S Rios

When I left, my piece was removed and everything carried on around me.  I still knew what the picture looked like, and the picture was still clear with a piece missing.  But my spot was still there, and I would come back and fit right back into it.

What I did not expect was to find there was no spot for me in the puzzle at all.

 

Several months have passed, and I now realize the puzzle metaphor is bullshit.

That feeling of comfort in my life was not about having a “perfect fit” between other pieces.

It was about making a life I enjoy, being myself, and having balance.

 

Over the past year, the challenge has been re-building a life I enjoy and finding balance. 

 

In hindsight it seems obvious.

 

I completely changed my life when I bought a one-way ticket to Ecuador and started living out of a backpack.  It took time to figure out what I enjoy and find balance in a new nomadic lifestyle in Latin America.

Putting down roots and switching my work focus was changing my life again.

 

Why would I expect it to be easy?  Why would I expect to immediately have balance?

 

Fortunately a challenge becomes a lot easier when you realize what your challenge actually is.

 

So now I’m on the right track.

People frequently ask me,

“Are you going to do it again?  Are you planning your next trip?”

(And no, they do not mean “vacation.”)

 

I certainly fantasize about places I would love to travel. 

I am very indecisive about planning a short trip (I despise the word “vacation”) because the thought of having only a few days or even a week to explore a new city makes me anxious (and not in a good way).

Part of the travel sabbatical was proving to myself that I could pick up and go.

I did it.  And I know I still can. Yes, right now.

 

But that is not what I want right now.  I changed my life again for a reason.

You may have noticed I changed the tagline of my website from “On Sabbatical in Latin America” to:

Live Simple

Consume Less

Experience More

 

Those three simple phrases are the key to building a life I enjoy, being myself, and having balance.  And they apply no matter where I am in the world and how I am making a living.

Comments

  1. Settling back in is pretty tough, especially when it feels very much like “settling.” Oddly enough I haven’t heard a whole lot of Europeans write about this issue; Canadians, maybe, and Eastern Europeans.

    I get the feeling that if you’re living in London and you just got back from 18 months around the world, you can still make good money in London and fly off with RyanAir to Italy for a week or two. They get a month of vacation to our 0.5, and they’re right by all sorts of amazing European monuments and can visit far more cheaply than Americans can, and more of them travel, so more of them understand what it’s like to come home, and can do a better job welcoming ex-expats back to “normal” life.

    I mean, I’m sure plenty of them get annoyed at having to fly back home, but for a variety of reasons, the issue is far more pronounced for North Americans and perhaps some others.
    OCDemon recently posted..Top 10 things to do in Ukraine

    • I agree with OCDemon. Europeans suck! 😉

      Life does keep going and we have to figure out what we want from it in order to be happy. A Facebook friend of mine (who I’ve never met, but is a friend of my sister’s) is closing in on 50 and has a daughter in Europe this summer. She just sat down this evening to watch “Before Sunrise”. She hasn’t seen any of the films in the trilogy and was a little blown away by the first one.

      That first big trip is the one that “Changes EVERYTHING!” You’re never the same. Your home is never the same. The thirst for new experiences may ebb & flow, but it never completely goes away. And yessss, those darned Euros can zip over to an entirely different culture on a 2 hour high speed train trip. They make me go harumph!

  2. I really like the tone of this post Stephanie. It feels like you are finding the balance indeed upon returning to the States. It has always been a difficult one for me and probably most other long-term travelers which is why I seem to take off again after a few months back.

    The point is that you have mastered the art of independent solo travel and you know in your heart that you can do that anytime should you choose. That is power!

    What a great place to move forward from and create the new! Salud!
    Philip recently posted..DIVING AND CHILLING IN BEAUTIFUL KOH LIPE

  3. Wow, has it been a year already? We found it nice to have a home base and are definitely appreciating the trips we do take now a lot more. They are fewer and farther between but, in general, we’re happy with the shift in lifestyle we made that is similar to yours…

    • Thanks, Bethany. I actually had a line about living simple, consuming less, and experiencing more on my short bio on the right sidebar the whole time. Just seemed like the appropriate time to make it stand out more. Also, I can’t really say I’m “on sabbatical in Latin America” anymore :-)
      Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..Butter tasting, anyone?

  5. It must be really boring to be in travel for many months then suddenly stop for work. I think the key there is balance. I also have a daily 8 hour job but I just take vacations after a few weeks in order to unwind.

    But I wish I could also get more time for vacation like 5 months. Haha

    Good luck to both of us!
    Jemma recently posted..Tourist Spots in Baguio City, Philippines

  6. Stephanie, the great thing is you can always travel again and you know there is a completely different world than what most Americans see. I’m sure your travels gave you some great insights that you have taken to other parts of your life including your career.

    I wonder how many others you inspired to explore the world by writing about your travels? I know when we met in Seattle, I was sure envious about all the great places you went. Being a tour owner, I sometimes forget that the stories I am sharing about local places are new and fresh to the people visiting.

    Congrats on your one year.. you are that much closer to your next adventure.

    I like the new tagline too :)

    • Thanks so much, Terry. I definitely learned a lot that I bring to my every day life (or try to remember to). My travel sabbatical helped form my vision of “a life well-lived” and helps me take steps that goal.

      You know, I never started this blog as a source of inspiration, at least not beyond my family and friends. But knowing that I have reached a wider audience and that it may help a few people realize there is something out there they want to experience and know that it can be done is very fulfilling.

      You have a great business in Seattle. I loved your story, and I hope it is just as fulfilling for you today.
      Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..TOSRV Day 2 – What drove me to finish

  7. Congratulations on finding balance, and I love your new tag line. Too many people think that they can’t have a rich life at home after travel, but travel makes your life richer and if you incorporate everything you learned and bring all the changes that happened to you into your life when you get back, life can be very exciting. For nearly a decade we balanced travel and work and lived a very fulfilling life. We took our love of adventure from our travels and took up rock climbing, scuba diving and mountain biking when we got back. We had so much fun and it made us more interesting people. Work opportunities popped up and it was because of our travels that we moved forward. You don’t have to remain on the road forever to be happy, you just need to have a reason to be. And it sounds like you are working on that now.
    Deb recently posted..Affordable Paris, Living Local with HouseTrip

    • Thanks, Deb. It is difficult, but you are absolutely right that you can still have a rich life at home after travel. I love reading about your adventures, and it really comes through on your blog that you have found a happy, fulfilling, and balanced lifestyle.
      Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..Fourth of July Fireworks

  8. The fact that I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that it’s been a year is a testament to how busy my own life has been since my 18-month sabbatical… I have that exact struggle: I get home and want to relax. Yet, I really do want to blog… Or plan a weekend trip somewhere. But I’ve also found since I got home that I have far fewer friends to get away with. :( Lost ’em to marriage, kids, or they just don’t have that urge to jump on a plane like I do, as they get older. But I felt so strongly that I was offered this career opportunity for a reason, and I was determined to milk it. I am glad I did! Love the “consume less” part. I also came back with that mantra! I borrow most of my clothes for events, and I’ve never felt the need to fill up the rooms of my house with furniture. I just don’t need it! (But did need a backyard for the pups!)
    Abby recently posted..Daydream of the week: Sonoma

  9. This is the part people always under-prepare for when they plan their travels. Reverse culture shock is always a giant problem. More so than one could ever convince people of. It’s hard to fathom until you experience it. Most of the time it’s hard to fathom how much you’ll change while you’re travelling, how COULD you imagine coming back. Good luck to you. :)

  10. hey enjoy about to hear your traveling experiences. i like your post and way of writing. thanks for sharing your awesome travel experiences with us.

  11. Love your new mantra! I think returning home is often more difficult than living abroad – you expect that to be hard and you know it’s a big change, but we forget that so is moving home. People have moved on and some of the same people in your life may not be involved in the same way that they were before. It took me a while to get my head around that when I returned home after living in Asia (years before I started blogging). Sounds like you’re figuring things out and making a life for yourself that works for you.
    Laurel recently posted..Tour du Mont Blanc: How to Plan Your Own Trek

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