Today marks my 1-week arrival anniversary. To be honest, it feels like it's been much longer. And not in a good way. I've been struggling all week with a wicked case of jetlag and a nasty bout of curl-in-a-little-ball-and-sob-homesickness.
I don't care who you are or how many times you've set off on a grand adventure into a great unknown, there's an adjustment period. And, for me at least, it often involves a daily sob session, a bone-tired weariness about facing yet another day of the unknown, and frantic desperation to grab onto a piece, any piece, of something familiar. Of home.
The good news is this feeling almost always passes. The trick for me is to find something that turns the unfamiliar familiar. For instance, during my European backpacking adventure last year, it was a Lady Gaga song playing in a tapas bar in Madrid that finally snapped the homesick doldrums. This time around, yesterday in fact, it was a walk with my American friends, Barb and Tuck, in London. Hearing her American accent and his joyful barks (he's a naughty little terrier) made this great, big scary adventure seem more cozy and familiar. It was exactly what I needed to snap out of this funk I've been in since I arrived in England.
That, and the glorious, glorious news that Starbucks is introducing Pumpkin Spice Lattes to the UK. I might have hugged the barista and broke out into a Snoopy Happy Dance right there in the middle of the store when I found out. It was like the little green goddess was whispering to me: "Stay... Everything's going to be ok." Needless to say, I spent most of my evening snuggled into a corner table, savoring every single sip.
Ok, I guess we can stay...
{Images via Elizabeth Farrar and Starbucks}
I don't care who you are or how many times you've set off on a grand adventure into a great unknown, there's an adjustment period. And, for me at least, it often involves a daily sob session, a bone-tired weariness about facing yet another day of the unknown, and frantic desperation to grab onto a piece, any piece, of something familiar. Of home.
The good news is this feeling almost always passes. The trick for me is to find something that turns the unfamiliar familiar. For instance, during my European backpacking adventure last year, it was a Lady Gaga song playing in a tapas bar in Madrid that finally snapped the homesick doldrums. This time around, yesterday in fact, it was a walk with my American friends, Barb and Tuck, in London. Hearing her American accent and his joyful barks (he's a naughty little terrier) made this great, big scary adventure seem more cozy and familiar. It was exactly what I needed to snap out of this funk I've been in since I arrived in England.
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| Meet Tuck. Seriously, how can you feel glum around this face? |
{Images via Elizabeth Farrar and Starbucks}
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