Adjusting to Life Back Home After Travelling Around the World for 380 Days

The feeling of foreboding doom came upon me as I boarded my flight back home from Amsterdam. The dread of going back home after travelling around the world didn’t sit well with me. To be honest, if my bank account hasn’t been completely drained, I would keep travelling. After being free and experiencing the simple life of being nomadic for a year, it’s now time to settle back to the old boring routine of going back to work, going home, rinse and repeat. Yeah, adjusting to life back home is going to suck.

 

 

Regardless, a part of me was kind of looking forward to it. Bouncing from one place to the next gets very exhausting. I definitely think my health has suffered a bit from travelling so fast and eating unhealthy food. If anything, I at least look forward to exercising and eating healthy again.

Flying back home to Vancouver

The flight back home to Vancouver was quite uneventful. I took American Airlines from Amsterdam to Houston, Texas. From Houston, I would catch one last flight that would take me back home in Vancouver, Canada.

 

 

Home sweet home. Right?

My girlfriend picked me up from the airport. After an emotional reunion, she took me to eat one of my favourite food that I missed so much while travelling.

I think if anything, you tend to miss the food back home. There’s just nothing more comforting than the food from your home town.

Adjusting to life back home

Surprisingly, adjusting to life back home went better than I thought.

I contacted all my previous employers and I managed to secure one of my old job back. At least I have work again, even on a part-time basis. My other employers eventually re-hired me down the road and I’m back where I left off.

Ironically, many of my co-workers didn’t even know I left Canada to travel for one year. Some of them just thought I was working a different shift that’s why they didn’t see me. Hilarious.

One interesting thing that I’m not surprised about is after talking to many people, most don’t care about your travel stories. They’ll ask you how it was, but it’s more out of politeness. They don’t really care because when people travel, they always go to the same place. Las Vegas, Hawaii, London, Paris, Mexico, Hong Kong, Greece, and Italy. And I’m not knocking on any of those places, they’re great, but there’s more to life than going to the same old place that everyone visits in their entire lifetime. But unless you go to those places I listed above, no one cares to hear your amazing travel stories (unless you are a real traveller yourself)

The best part of coming back home is to have that chance to sit down and get to work on my blog. I found it very difficult to get work done while travelling. Unless I stayed in place conducive to digital nomads such as Chiang Mai, Thailand, working while travelling is not an easy feat.

What’s next moving forward

My first goal is to pay off my debt. After travelling for one year, I owe money in my line of credit which I need to pay back.

I’ll also be working on building up my blog so I can start earning some income from it. Ideally, I’d like to make at least $1000 a month from my blog so I can keep travelling without having to go back home to work again.

My mission for the next 4-5 years is to visit every single UN recognized countries in the world. It’s back to saving up money again. Before life gets too serious and I get married and have kids, I’d like to to do something epic with my life. Something I can look back and say I’m glad I did them and not have any regrets. Many people end up living their life according to what society dictates they should live. Allowing others to dictate what you should do with your life because you fear social rejection.

To many people, success means having a stable job, having a house, a nice car, and following that traditionally 9-5 route. And if truly, that makes you happy, then go for it. But if you’re dying inside and you’re following that path. I beg you to reconsider your life decisions and do some soul searching. And travelling around the world will give you the answers you’re looking for.

Adjusting to life back home after travelling for one year is not too difficult. However, finding the courage to live your dream is.

Once I have a decent amount of savings, it’s time to hit the road again! But for now, it’s back to work.

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