After months on the road, some travelers can't wait to get home again; others approach that homebound flight with a sense of dread. Coming home after a long stint away is rarely easy, so it pays to know what awaits travelers in their native place.

Home is one place that will readily accept a traveler with open arms. 

The Homecoming Honeymoon

There are plenty of good points connected to arriving home after a long stint traveling. Regular clothes washing, access to more of your wardrobe than what you stuffed into your backpack, the comfort of your very own bed, the home-cooked meals are luxurious conveniences for the bone-tired traveler. Settling into his comfort zone, the traveler soon catches up with family and friends, delights speaking in his native tongue, never gets lost, and frees himself from the stress about how to get to that train to Warsaw or whether or not you can wear shorts to a temple in Laos.

For me, coming home has always meant I can get a tasty vegetarian meal at my mother's house, I can gorge on my favourite only-made-here chocolate bars and I can stop using the one pair of jeans I normally wear non-stop on my trips. And I get to see my cat, who never manages to email or call while I'm away!

When Reverse Culture Shock Hits

(Photo by LBCaro)

First-time homecomers might expect this honeymoon to last some time, but in my experience, the reverse culture shock of being somewhere so familiar again tends to hit pretty soon. Most of your family and friends don't want to know more about your trip beyond two sentences; you'll be lucky to find more than one person who wants to see your photographs or hear your tales of Tunisian marketplaces or New Zealand whitewater rafting excursions.

A huge problem for a long-term traveler is that he tends to grow apart from his friends while away. People continue their everyday lives while the traveler experiences all kinds of new, world-altering stuff. Not a recipe for an immediately compatible renewal of a friendship.

In general, going back to the daily life you lived B.T. – Before Traveling – is likely to be a bit of a letdown after your time away. Don't expect life to be as exciting as you're used to; try and remember the good points.

What If Home Is Where Your Backpack Is?

Some people have been traveling so long that they've developed a totally different sense of home. I've met long-term travelers who claim they can make a home out of wherever they happen to be at that moment, but I think these people have it the toughest when they actually try to return to their "real" home. They've spent so much time divorcing themselves from the pull of family and familiarity that they have a hard time fitting back in – and just as often, end up back on the road again.

For some, home is where your backpack is. (Photo by Nathaniel KS)

Settling In and Seeing Home Through New Eyes

Some take a few days, some take years, but eventually, nearly every traveler settles back home happily. It took me a couple of years to really appreciate my hometown and what it has to offer me – largely because of what I learned from my travels.

 

(Photo by dalangalma)

After exploring many parts of the world, I have become more exposed to different cultures and I can seek these out in my hometown. I can now visit a Korean restaurant and know the tastiest dishes to order, attend Chinese New year festivals with a lot more background knowledge of the traditions involved, and easily choose the best German beer on offer when the local version of Oktoberfest comes around.

I've also learned to see my hometown through the eyes of a traveler visiting for the first time. That means I’m much more likely to head out to a new museum exhibition, or take a day trip out to the countryside – the kinds of activities you rarely do when you've lived somewhere all your life.

Home or Away, Go or Stay?

What travelers need to remember is we're privileged to have figured out how to spend a long time on the road and see so much of the world. But no matter where you go, you'll always have a special tie to the place where you grew up. I still spend many hours pining for my old traveling days and planning future trips, but I've also learned that home really is a special place.

 

About the author

Amanda Kendle is an Australian freelance writer and ESL teacher who's lived in Slovakia, Japan and Germany. She's also a travel addict whose favorite experiences have included backpacking around Tunisia, riding the Trans-Siberian across Russia and sleigh-driving in northern Finland. Her journeys are documented in her blog Not A Ballerina.