So. Travelling. It's great. But it doesn't last forever and eventually you return.
You come home and catch-up for two weeks and everything is amazing, you're amazing and how cool is it to sleep in your own room and use a clean bathroom?! But then everything gets back to normal. No-one cares to listen to you rabbiting on about spending 18 hours on a coach or how deserted outback Australia is.
You've also changed. Slightly or a lot, you will have.
Whether you've just seen how massive the world is or whether you've knocked shyness on the head and have discovered a new go get it trait to your character, something will have changed. The thing is this slowly gets knocked out of you. Or for me anyway. I don't know why. Maybe it's because out there everything was different and I had to be this different person.
For example, previously I didn't like using the phone. Whether it was for a job or inquiring about a uni, if there was an email address then phew! But in Australia whether it was applying for jobs, or trying to find accommodation, if there was no phone number I got annoyed. I was happy enough ringing round every number I could find.
But now five years from returning i'm back to pre-travelling me. Scared to go for things and afraid to pick up a ringing phone in case it scars me.
I can't pinpoint why exactly we revert back. Maybe it's because back home, although things have changed slightly such as relationships or the town you live in, essentially things are the same. You find it hard for the new you to fit in. So you get knocked back down to the person you used to be.
These two articles I came across this evening express points along the same thread, but what led me to write this rant were the opinions expressed in the comment sections.
Why Returning From Travel Is Harder Than Leaving The Comfort Of Home
The Hardest Part Of Traveling No One Talks About
Most of them think the article's writers are looking down on those that haven't traveled. That they are selfish and self-obsessed and very lucky to have had the experiences they have had.
There is no looking down on people.
Maybe a tiny proportion think that people are stupid to not travel. But not the majority and certainly not me.
I think most people I know fall into two categories. They are either envious and wish they could do the same but can't for different reasons such as the circumstances in their life. Or they have no desire to do so. After all why would sleeping in a ten bed dorm appeal to people when they could sleep in their own bed every night and take a luxurious two week holiday every year instead?
We also know we are very lucky to have been able to have had the experiences we have had. I saved from a job I took after uni and then also worked when I was in Australia. Yet I still know I am lucky. I know the hardship in the world. Despite my avoiding the news I am still aware of the desperation and hardship that people endure all over.
But I bet these people commenting still buy the latest Xbox or spend £2000 on their next holiday. Well you know what? £2000 (earned and saved by me) is actually all I went out with. That along with working in Australia is how I afforded my year abroad.
So yes, whilst I was lucky to have no commitments at home and a place to come back to, it's not like I swanned around for a year drinking prosecco every evening from the roof-top garden of my apartment daddy paid for. I worked hard and lived in a 2 bed flat that housed 9 people. I worked 62 hours a week in an orange packing factory in the middle of nowhere whilst sleeping in a 10-bed dorm. That was how I afforded to tour Australia, to do a 3 day boat-trip of the Whitsundays and a sky-dive in Fiji.
These people moaning at the article might work very hard too at their job, but they choose to spend it on rent or a mortgage, their own bedroom and luxuries in life. We all work hard but choose to spend it differently.
Saying that i'm fully aware that some have gap years funded by their parents. But does mean people are not allowed to express their thoughts or even think these things in the first place? No it doesn't.
No matter how we've come about being about to travel we are all entitled to speak about how we feel. I must admit I often feel guilty for moaning about things in life. Yet everyone does it. I'm sure the people commenting in the comment section whinge about something. Maybe they can't afford to upgrade their phone. Or maybe someone can't afford the latest £500 mascara. Everyone has some little thing that they complain about.
So why can't these people writing the articles express themselves without being belittled?
They are just saying that coming home from travelling can be harder than one might think. That you don't find yourself fitting back into society as easily as you slotted in before. That's okay to think and say is it not?
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