READER STORIES: how ERIN IS READJUSTING TO LIFE BACK home

Posted: 4/18/2013 | April 18th, 2013

Readjusting to life back home can be a challenge. I remember my first time coming home: I had major culture shock. I remember the supermarkets just feeling so big. and the stores. and the meal portions. (We have such big meals here in the States!) Plus, many of my pals couldn’t relate to my feeling of unease. It was a challenge going from always being on the relocation to all of a sudden doing the opposite. (Clearly, I didn’t cope. My service was to keep traveling!)

In previous reader stories, we’ve talked a lot about people leaving to travel the world. Today we are going to talk about coming home and readjusting to life after life on the road.

Nomadic Matt: hello Erin! tell everyone about yourself!
Erin: hello everyone! My name is Erin and I’m 45 and I grew up throughout the Pacific Rim: California, Washington, Hawaii, and new Zealand.

I’m a former banking executive that chose I’d choose to spend my time working with nonprofit organizations and traveling the world. I transitioned out of banking, taking an entry-level job at a nonprofit organization. I gradually built a specialty in philanthropic financial products, and about six years ago, I started a consulting firm.

As a consultant, I set up my contracts so I could take three months off every year to travel overseas and volunteer. After several years of this arrangement, I chose I wanted to take a longer two-year sabbatical to travel the world volunteering. At the time, I was saving to purchase a home, so I had a tidy sum put away. I tapped these savings to finance my trip.

And where did you go on your trip?
During my two years of traveling, I went to all seven continents as well as 62 countries. I started in Fiji on new Year’s Eve and ended in Antarctica, working my way up through Patagonia as I returned home to the States.

Although I had 3-4 highlights I wanted to hit (hiking in the Himalayas, going to Angkor Wat, and exploring India), I had no set itinerary. I purposely wanted the flexibility to wander the world as I made new pals and learned of exciting places.

As a result, I didn’t travel in a straight line or even one region at a time, but hopscotched across the globe. While my travel trajectory was fluid, I had three clear objectives for my trip: to give myself the time to read, write, and volunteer.

And how did your trip go? Did you have any misadventures?
I had quite a few scary moments on my trip, especially because I choose to travel overland and take local transportation whenever possible. There are certainly some memories — a bus crash in Ethiopia, jumping out of a moving automobile in Zambia, political unrest in the middle east and sub-Saharan Africa — that still give me pause. I also had some daredevil adventures white-water rafting that I could have done without.

Did you have a plan for when you come back?
I did have a plan: I was trying to orchestrate a relocation to London. Unfortunately, these plans fell through. instead of taking short-term consulting assignments before moving across the pond, I now need to ponder a much more permanent life.

I’ve been back two months and am still considering which city I ought to live in, what type of work I want to do, and how I want to rebuild my life. even easy things like renting an house and purchasing a automobile and furniture are on hold. For the time being, I am splitting my time between San Francisco, NYC, and my family in Florida. I’m subletting furnished apartments for several weeks at a time and renting a automobile when I need it. and I’m still living out of a suitcase.

So I guess my nomadic life hasn’t ended just because I came home!

Have you adjusted to life after being away for so long?
I’m a bit blown away by the efficiency of modern American life. I’m also amazed that in some cases I walk down the street and there are no other people around. It’s eerie, like being on a deserted film set. and I’m dumbfounded by the bounty in our supermarkets — aisles and aisles of food.

Of course, I’ve discovered these differences when I’ve returned from previous travels, but now I can think of how a visitor might look at the sheer enormousness of American life. To me, this lushness translates from the physical to the psychological. I am very happy of what we have here in America, with the choices we have, and our rights as individuals.

While we never think they are enough, I’ve witnessed other parts of the world where they don’t have any of these freedoms at all. It makes me very appreciative to be American.

What was the hardest part of coming home?
I think the mental transition is the hardest part of returning. As I mentioned, I’m still living life as a nomad, with no terrific desire to put down roots. last week I was in line at a store when all of a sudden I stepped out of line and put down the item I was going to purchase. Grunden? It wouldn’t fit in my suitcase!

I’m aLSO kæmper lidt med at være hjemme. Jeg har fundet ud af, at mit liv igen er et tomt lærred, og jeg har chancen for at skabe det liv, jeg ønsker. Jeg synes, dette er en fantastisk mulighed, men mulighederne er bogstaveligt talt uendelige, så jeg vil tage tid og tage tankevækkende beslutninger.

Mine venner og familie støtter, idet de simpelthen er glade for at have mig hjemme. De har hilst mig velkommen i deres hjem, og jeg har været i stand til hurtigt at genoprette vores venskaber. Jeg har været meget heldig at have et så stærkt supportnetværk, mens jeg rejste og ved min tilbagevenden.

Jeg finder mig selv at sidde stille og bare tænke. For mig er dette vejen gennem overgangen: Giv mig tid og plads til at begynde at behandle alt, hvad jeg har oplevet. Jeg er overbevist om, at denne reflektion ud af denne reflektion vil dukke op for mig at følge.

Fandt du, at arbejdsgivere så på din rejse som negativt, eller hjalp det med at sikre et job?
Mine rejser påvirkede ikke mit erhverv negativt på nogen måde. Når jeg genstarter min konsulentvirksomhed, har min internationale erfaring forbedret mit perspektiv og hvad jeg kan tilbyde klienter.

Mine rejser har også ført til yderligere muligheder. Jeg taler nu ofte på skoler, virksomheder og borgerorganisationer om min rejse og frivilligt arbejde i udlandet. Og selvfølgelig skriver jeg min bog, Adventure Philanthropist, om min oplevelse.

Hvilken vejledning ville du have for folk, der kommer hjem efter en lang tur?
Jeg vil anbefale at gå ind igen. Tillad dig selv tid til at akklimatisere sig til velkendte omgivelser. Du er ikke den samme person som da du rejste på dine rejser, så forvent ikke at hoppe tilbage i dit gamle liv.

Du er vokset i din tænkning, så giv dig selv tid til at udforske – ligesom du gjorde på vejen. At justere simpelthen tager tid. Du skal vænne dig til det, der plejede at være så kendt.

Mit ene stykke vejledning er at fortsætte med at tale med de mennesker, du mødte rejser, især dem, der allerede er hjemme. De ved, hvad du går igennem. De kan forholde sig og ved at tale med dem om, hvordan du har det, gør det overgangen mindre vanskelig.

Bliv den næste succeshistorie

En af mine yndlingsdele om dette job er at høre folks rejsehistorier. De inspirerer mig, men meget vigtigere, de inspirerer dig også. Jeg rejser på en bestemt måde, men der er adskillige måder at finansiere dine ture på og rejse verden rundt. Jeg håber, at disse historier viser dig, at der er meget mere end en måde at rejse på, og at det er inden for dit greb for at nå dine rejsemål.

Her er et andet eksempel på nogen, der justerede til livet efter hans store internationale eventyr:

Hvordan Dan justerede til livet derhjemme

Vi kommer alle fra forskellige steder, men vi har alle en ting til fælles: Vi vil alle rejse mere.

Lav i dag den dag, du tager et skridt tættere på at rejse – hvad enten det er at købe en guidebog, booke et hostel, skabe en rejseplan eller gå hele vejen og købe en flybillet.

Husk, i morgen kommer måske aldrig, så vent ikke.

Sådan rejser du verden på $ 50 om dagen

Min New York Times bedst sælgende paperback-guide til World Travel vil instruere dig, hvordan du mestrer kunsten at rejse, så du kommer fra den slagne vej, sparer penge og har en dybere rejseoplevelse. Det er din A til Z Planning Guide, som BBC kaldte “Bibelen for budgetrejsende.”

Klik her for at lære meget mere og begynde at læse det i dag!

Book din rejse: logistiske forslag og tricks
Book din flyvning
Find en billig flyvning ved hjælp af Skyscanner. Det er min foretrukne søgemaskine, fordi den søger på websteder og flyselskaber over hele kloden, så du ved altid, at der ikke er nogen sten, der ikke er vendt.

Book din indkvartering
Du kan booke dit hostel med HostelWorld. Hvis du vil bo et andet sted end et vandrerhjem, skal du bruge Booking.com, da de konsekvent returnerer de mest overkommelige priser for gæstehuse og hoteller.

Glem ikke rejseforsikring
Rejseforsikring vil beskytte dig mod sygdom, skade, tyveri og aflysninger. Det er omfattende beskyttelse, hvis noget går galt. Jeg tager aldrig på en tur uden den, da jeg har været nødt til at bruge den adskillige gange i fortiden. Mine yndlingsfirmaer, der tilbyder den bedste service og værdi, er:

Safetywing (bedst for alle)

Forsikre min rejse (for dem over 70)

Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Ready to book Your Trip?
Tjek min ressourceside for de bedste virksomheder, der skal bruges, når du rejser. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.