We got back last week from a two-week trip back to the US to visit my family.  It was such a great idea - someone said “This trip will help you realize this didn’t all disappear” and I don’t know if that was it, but it definitely helped me feel like family/home/the US is still accessible.  It was also very refreshing just to see the landscape in Maine and New York - the greenness and fullness of the grass and trees that I grew up with and the pretty old two-story clapboard, stone, etc. houses that I’m used to.  And I loved hanging out on the lake in Maine and going to the Adirondacks - those lakes and tall pine trees are so peaceful and familiar!  I also enjoyed stepping out of Penn Station when we got to NYC for our flight and being back in the busyness of it - it was jarring after the quiet of Sydney, but I do miss that big city.  And obviously the best part was seeing family and friends and just hanging out.

Anyway, it definitely recharged my batteries and made me feel much happier when we got back to Sydney.  Now T and I are both in full swing of our classes at TAFE (which we missed the beginning of over in New York) and are also starting our search for a new apartment now that our six-month lease is up (we’ve been here six months!) so we’re going to be doing a bit of running around.  Well, before we got here, T warned me that the first six months would be the hardest, so maybe this was a perfect time to take that trip and recharge.

Filed in Travel on Monday, August 10, 2009 ·