Yes, you read that correctly – the United States! This was not originally part of my travel plans, but in mid-December I made the decision to come home for a while. There are lots of reasons I decided to come home: I really missed having Christmas with my family, I was soooo tired of packing my backpack every morning and I kept thinking of the food from back home. In addition, my Grandma was visiting and she thought it might be the last time she was comfortable flying down, so I didn’t want to miss her visit. I’m very close with my Grandma and wanted to spend some time with her while she was in town. One night in mid-December, I decided to splurge and just buy the flight home.
The best part of coming back to the United States was that I didn’t tell anyone I was coming! Alex knew because he had just spent a week with me, but not a single other person was aware. I took a cab home and surprised everyone!!! Seeing the reactions of my family was great – my sisters cried, my brother said things I can’t write on my blog and my mom shouted so loud! Seeing their responses was priceless, something I’ll always remember. Not what I originally planned for my trip, but something I’m so excited that I did!
Since I am so used to doing activities nearly every day, I tried to find fun things to do in Colorado. I went up to Vail and took an ice climbing class, which was lots of fun but really hard. I used crampons and ice axes to climb up a vertical wall – so cool! I liked the clunk you heard when the axe went into the ice. And why am I taking ice climbing classes? Because I’ve decided to go back to Nepal! I loved it so much when I was there in September that I just had to go back. I will be there for about a month in April, taking a glacier training course. I can’t wait to see it again! The people were so wonderful and the scenery is amazing, and I’m very excited to learn more glacier skills. I want to volunteer for a few weeks after the class but I can’t decide whether to do it in Nepal or Cambodia. I love Nepal and would love to give something back to the people there, but I feel like I didn’t get to see Cambodia very well the last time and this would be an opportunity to experience the local culture. Decisions, decisions!
I also spent an afternoon going with my sister and my nephew to the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo. I know, I know, it sounds like such an 1800’s thing to do. We used to go every year when I was a kid and it’s one of my most fond memories, so I was really excited to be able to go with my nephew. They have horses and cows and all kinds of other animals there and it’s just a great way to spend an afternoon.
I didn’t just stay in Colorado while I was back in the US. I am a little bit of an addict and can’t go more than about 2 weeks without going on a plane, so I went to visit a few friends. I went to see Juliana, Sean and their son Matthew in Houston, which included lots of visits to the park and their beautiful new house. Then I went to see Jenn, Caleb and Jameson in Kansas, which included a 3rd birthday party and another beautiful new house. It was fun to see two of my good friends and to surprise them with the help of their secret-keeping husbands!
I was also lucky enough to be home when my nephew lost his first 2 teeth! He lost them 5 days apart and now looks so silly. There was also a huge snowstorm which lead to lots of relaxing – just what I needed! Of course I did some boring stuff as well – got the oil changed in my car, took the GMAT (710…wahoo!) and shopped to replace a few things I’ve lost or ruined in my travels so far. All in all, my trip home was exactly what I needed. It was a great mix of seeing my friends and family, eating the foods that I miss from home and plenty of relaxing. I definitely feel refreshed now and ready to continue on with the next part of my trip.
So what exactly does the next part of my trip entail? First I will be off to New Zealand for 3 weeks with my brother. We’re renting a campervan and driving around the South Island - hope I can learn to drive on the opposite side of the road! Then I fly back to Australia and will meet up with my two lovely sisters for a week of fun in the sun. After they leave I will be heading to Perth and the west coast of Australia for a little exploring on my own. Finally, as I mentioned above, I will be going back to Nepal for a few months for a glacier training school. The it’s back home and back to the real world – phewJ Hopefully the next few months are as incredible and life changing as the last 8 months have been!
