Traveling gave us plenty of time to think about things at home. The prospect of another bathroom without toilet paper made me dream of the two ply ultra plush charmin that I’m always talking about, but there were plenty of other things we missed about home. Now that we’re home and on the other side of the coin, I can’t stop thinking about the things I miss about travel. Since this week celebrates our second RTW anniversary, here’s looking back at the things we miss, past and present.
Things We Missed about Home
Diversity
In all its forms, we missed diversity. Of ideas, of cuisines and of people. Although Mexican food in Mexico is delicious, we missed the variety of cuisine on offer in Washington, D.C. Somewhere around week 3 we broke, went running for hummus and falafel when we found it. We also missed the diversity of people, idea and cultures. We were surprised how homogeneous much of the world is.
Infrastructure
Say what you want about the traffic jams and potholes, but trust me, we have a darn good system of infrastructure here. We sat on a parked bus in Argentina all night long waiting for some road work to allow traffic to pass. The backups in China were epic and I’m fairly certain we walked faster than any tuk-tuk in Bangkok. Oh yea and remember the Marsabit to Moyale road? Enough said.
Western Junk Food
Whenever we found western junk food we hit it hard and honestly I have no idea why. We don’t really eat this stuff at home, but I guess it was a form of homesickness. I think I stopped in every Thai 7-11 I passed for a coke slurpee. I hit the oreos pretty hard on bus rides in China, especially after I discovered the half peanut butter half chocolate ones. Let’s not forget the damage we did in Kuala Lumpur. We went through a box of Cheerios, a bag of doritos, a bag of real Pennsylvania sourdough hard pretzels and a jar of peanut butter in a few hours. We felt sick and yet it was delicious.
Tap Water
We mostly used the Steri-Pen to purify tap water, but I missed not being able to get cold, fresh and decently tasting water from the tap. Sure it only took 90 seconds to clean, but that never removed the nasty taste or discoloration we sometimes encountered. Or the fish we caught in our water bottle while hiking in Peru.
Clothes
I’m the opposite of a fashionista, but I missed my clothes. I take that back, I missed the option of having clothes. I usually carried three bottoms with me- my ubiquitous black workout pants, my zippy pants and my long black skirt. The zippy pants were pretty much inappropriate outside of Africa or on the trail, and while I had a 4 tops, almost all were in shades of blue and it never felt like I had options. Sometimes I missed having a closet. Mostly though, I missed my jeans and hoodies.
Customer Service
I hated having to play “angry (insert euphemism for white person here) woman” in order to get someone to do what they said they would. I hated having to ask for clarification 1000 times before we paid for a trip, tour or excursion so that we wouldn’t get screwed. Basically, I hated having to doubt people’s word.
What we now miss
Third World Convenience
I knew I would miss this right away. Although it took some getting used to, I miss the regular appearance of street food on transportation and it’s friend the cold soda. Heading up the metro escalator in DC the other day, it was pouring buckets of rain and we were without an umbrella. I told Danny we’d buy an umbrella from the vendor at the top. Unfortunately there wasn’t anyone. Had this been Latin America, there’d be three guys selling ponchos and umbrellas. I miss those guys.
Surprises
These were usually annoying on the road, but now I miss them. Surprise! This bus only goes halfway to your destination. Surprise! Today is a very important national holiday that we forgot to mention. Surprise! The border is closed today. Surprise! The man sitting across from me at the medical clinic in Addis Abbaba lives in DC. Surprise! Thai food in Thailand is actually as good as you imagine. Yes, they could be annoying, but it kept things interesting and I miss those instances where there was nothing to do but to laugh and be flexible.
Freedom
I miss being able to pick up and move across a country whenever we felt like it. I miss the freedom to go wherever whenever I wanted. Sure, I can still do that now, but it’s much more expensive, which brings me to my next point.
Feeling Rich
It’s hard not to feel this way in developing countries where you can buy whatever you want whenever you want despite a tight budget. It was really nice to travel when we didn’t have to worry about the budget and could order whatever we wanted off a menu. Sounds awful, but it was nice to feel rich.
People
What I miss most about traveling is the people. I miss their hospitality, curiosity and genuine friendship. I miss their offers to help us whether we wanted it or not, and their kindness. The world is an amazing place and we were overwhelmed by the generosity we were shown. I miss the way a train conversation would morph into a discussion spanning the entire car about our predicament or how passing peanuts to the back of a shared taxi elicited a joke that made every passenger burst into laughter. I miss meeting these incredible people.
Heather Chadwick says
I couldn’t agree more with this post! From my experiences abroad for 2 years, this sums up so well how I feel.
Catherine says
R.E. the “third world convenience” point….you’ve simply moved back to the wrong US city. Walk up from any subway station in Manhattan during a rain storm and there will be an umbrella vendor at the ready:)
Jillian says
@Heather – Welcome home RPCV! Glad our experiences jive! 🙂
@Catherine – Is that a hint, hint, nudge, nudge, nudge? If the whole white collar career thing doesn’t work out, I guess I know where I’m headed to start my umbrella business….
The NVR Guys says
Great post. There is nothing better than long term travel to help you appreciate what you have and also learn that the rest of the world has some pretty good ideas. I remember hearing someone on Oprah say (regarding healthcare) that while they appreciated the system in Europe, we needed something that was uniquely american. I thought, “why the hell does it have to be uniquely american?” Like we couldn’t possibly learn something from another culture. (End short rant)
One correction: Thai food in Thailand is better than you can imagine. 🙂
BTW – I am pretty sure we got caught in a total deluge last last Thursday in DC. People gripe about the rain in Seattle, but that storm took the cake. We were wet up to our knees.
Jillian says
Love the rant and the fact you worked Oprah into it. We should petition Oprah to do a show on the amazing advocacy work you guys are doing, or just your blog in general!
To correct my previous statement: Thai food is AMAZING, but everyone told me it was incredible. I had been salivating for it since the mutton on a stick in Central Asia. Yum. I’m running through my thai cookbook too fast, soon I’ll have to repeat!
Yup, sounds like the same storm. Where was the umbrella guy?
Geoff says
How true! The convenience thing is one thing I hadn’t thought of before, but it’s so true – they sell absolutely everything everywhere.
The thing I’ve really realised I miss most back in Europe is the fact that you can get just about anywhere in most countries via public transport, as most people don’t have cars – there’s almost always a little collectivo or minivan going halfway up a mountain or down a remote valley to a local village. I don’t drive, and it’s really reminded me how inaccessible parts of Europe can be if you don’t!
Jillian says
That’s so true. Here in the States it’s even worse. We can get between major cities, but small towns? Forget it! The lack of public transit makes it hard to explore the out of the way places.
Chishikoff says
Good article, thanks. 🙂 Good Design
Laura Keller says
Great post and well said. Missing so much of what you mentioned – street food, new people and daily surprises. Recently returned from 14 month RTW trip with my husband and so much of what you said rings true. Thanks for sharing!
Jillian says
Laura,
Thanks for commenting! I love that you guys kept his/hers blogs, what would be miss/missed on each of your lists?