ah... and i thot i was alone in this world!
thank you putting all that I feel in words....

maxie

"Ted & Niki" wrote in message
news:RY6Vc.154591$gE.11038@pd7tw3no...
Ah... this thread is like mind candy for the many of us who have had the
same experience and the same kind of realization afterwards... Yes, as one
poster said, the travel book sales indicates that there are many many people
who do/did this sort of thing. On the other hand, we are dwarfed in % of
population by those who have not done this kind of thing.

The first time I had that experience (as you did).. after my first long
trip.. it seemed like a real epiphany. A couple of more times I and I got
used to it. It's interesting though... the initial phase after a first big
trip is to have new perspective on everything back home and... a type of
reverse culture shock... where you can't take everyone's daily lives and
little problems very seriously and you fee like you want to (somewhat
arrogantly) laugh at their little confined worlds.

And then, as time goes, on (assuming you don't immediately have the chance
to take off again)... that same regular daily routine creeps back into your
own life (despite all that you swore to fend it off and travel again right
away or whatever)... and then one day your sitting in your little cubicle
daydreaming of some far off bizarre foreign experience that you have... one
that now seems surrealistic - more like a dream that you had one night than
something that you genuinely experienced. That's usually when the cycle
repeats as you start to and you find yourself needing to find a way to plan
another trip. Yes that's the life of the (independent) travel bug bitten...

OK... then life goes on and maybe trip lengths shorten and maybe
destinations become easier/safer... because maybe now you have family to
take along... but the feeling never completely goes away. And you always
have the one piece of consolation even when you can't travel... that at
least you know what it feels like to have had these experiences whatever
they were... and you don't really need those around you to truly understand
it, for it to have enhanced your life. Be grateful for your experiences -
you don't really need their validation... And learn to try to respect those
around you even when it seems their "world" is quite a bit smaller. They
can't help it (oops, being a little arrogant again).

Every once in a while you will meet someone who really DOES want to hear
your stories. Not only will that make you feel a little better about it...
getting it "off your chest" a little... but it usually happens when someone
else is starting to consider travelling for the first time themselves, in
which case they want to know what you know. Help them and in a year or two
when they suddenly re-appear after their trip... you can sit back and
observe their "reverse culture shock" and you can sit back and chuckle a
little...

.... on a similar point... after travelling a few times... it starts becoming
fun watching the backpack travellers congregate in some standard/easy
travellers crossroads like Khao San road in Bangkok, or Amsterdam or
whatever... and watch their excitement (and somewhat conceited
self-congratulations) and having gotten there... despite the fact that they
have not even scratched the surface of what's out there (- well non of us
really have, have we?).


"Hallvard Tangeraas" wrote in message
om...
I recently came back after a more than 8 month long trip around the
world and have had an absolutely fantastic time!!!
Getting back home was like pulling the emergency brake on the train.
Quite an abrupt stop in other words. No more excitement, new
places/things/people to see every single day etc.

And nobody really understands the whole concept of travelling like
this or has much interest in hearing about it all. 2 minutes seems
plenty for most people. I guess it's hard to relate to something like
this when most people have only had 2 week vacations now and then.

So how do you other guys handle this sort of thing? How do you get
back to an everyday life, or do you?
I'm pretty free at the moment, not knowing exactly what to do with my
life, so I'm trying to get ideas. I don't feel particularly at home
anywhere, so I guess home could be anywhere.

I'd like to hear what other people having done after something like
this.


Hallvard