On 16 Aug 2004 00:57:06 -0700, (Hallvard
Tangeraas) wrote:

I recently came back after a more than 8 month long trip around the
world ...

And nobody really understands the whole concept of travelling like
this

Baloney. Millions of people do it. Lonely Planet & Moon Publications
have made millions off them. You may be the only person in your circle
of acquaintances who's done it, but wherever you go traveling, there
are plenty of other vagabonds. It's almost impossible to find a place
that _hasn't_ been touristed. Let me rephrase that. If you're doing a
RTW trip, it's almost impossible. No matter where you go, you'll find
someone who's done far more intrepid stuff, more radical traveling.
And you'll find those people at home, too, but they don't have tattoos
on their forehead that say, "world traveller." They're working at
normal jobs, being normal people and saving money for their next trip.

So how do you other guys handle this sort of thing? How do you get
back to an everyday life, or do you?

You cope. My longest trip was 4 years. Towards the end, I couldn't
wait to get back, get a job, and be _productive_ again. I was tired of
just observing, meeting new people, and learning about different
cultures. A long trip for me now is 6 weeks. A friend where I work
thinks nothing of flying halfway around the world for 3 days. You
learn to accept whatever travel experience you have in its own
context. No matter where you've been, the sum total of your
experiences is really limited. Sure, you can say, "I've been to India.
I know what it's like." But all you know is what you've seen out of
your peripheral vision on the path you've taken, at the time you were
there. You don't know what's on the next street over, or what the same
path feels like in another season.

The "everyday life" you speak of is everyday only because you fit back
into familiar routines and places. I don't know where you call home,
but I'll bet there are many things you don't know about it. If you
find a new career, friends, locale, etc, you'll find that same "awe of
the new" that travel gives you.
My home is in Southern California. There are communities within 10
miles of me about which I know nothing. Nowadays I find as much joy
traveling around America as around the world. And doing it in 2 week
chunks is easy.

Turby the Turbosurfer