Homeward Bound

Tomorrow we're heading home.  How very odd. The timing is great.  The heat (really the humidity) here in Costa is now unbearable most days.   Reminds me why i left the south.  The rainy season has also entered the scene like someone flipped a switch.  It downpours daily.   It's a refreshing reprieve from the heat...but the bus is far from watertight.  Quite the opposite actually.

Water pours in from the safaris and we now seem to have a leak (more of a waterfall) above the cargo doors we just cant figure out.  Combine the flooding with the lack of windshield wipers and driving becomes an interesting adventure...but maybe a hair less than safe.

We are flying to Portland tomorrow and couldn't possibly be more excited.  The bus is now tucked away and dry in an official government building (a requirement to effectively freeze the vehicle permit while away) and we are without our home for the first time in 10 months.  Strange.  But all we can think about is how excited we are to board the plane tomorrow and head back.  I just can't wrap my head around it...  I'm actually excited to leave the beaches of costa rica and head home.  That friends, is the result of a life changing trip!

We are obviously excited to go back and see friends and family- its been way too long.  We have some amazing and beautiful friendships in the PNW and we long for them.  But if that were the only reason we simply would have booked a 2week trip.  We are actually enthralled with the idea of being in Portland as our new selves.  To walk around aimlessly in a city we love and see what it and our hearts tell us to do.  To see what we really want.  The trip for us has been a way to remove ourselves from our former lives.  Now we get a chance to return home and see what our new lives feel like.  so very cool.

When we left i think we both would have told you that our perfect arrangement would be to live in the PNW for 6 months and on a beach for for the other...this a great trial at that arrangement (even if we were actually gone for 10 and don't really yet know if we'll be in Portland for 6).  It's funny the reactions that we've had- everyone from friends to strangers.  Some are sad for our return like we are giving up on something.  Some warn us not to go, or that we will want to leave again in 2weeks.  Others are thrilled for us. We fall solidly into that last category.

For us the trip isn't a vacation that's ending, its a part of our lives. So is portland.  Now we get to see how those two opposites fit together.  We have tons of unanswered questions- where will we live, who will we spend time with, what will we do all day...  but they all seem more like exciting paths to explore than stressful unknowns.

Traveling has become the norm and we're excited to shake things up a bit.  We made sure before leaving that we had saved enough to confidently stay gone for two years.  The fact that we want to be in Portland now gives us a window to live and breathe normal life without the stress of taking a job out of necessity.  To pick a project or focus that excites us and see where it might lead.  To do what sounds like fun and not worry about the future (just yet).  To see whether the things we've learned about happiness and simplicity on the road can actually be achieved back home as well.  That is about as exciting a proposition as i can imagine.

Now if only morning would hurry up and get here so we could get that airplane portion done with!