We had a long, relaxed visit to my family in Massachusetts. This was a little different from my typical trip home for Thanksgiving. Usually I spend part of it working from home – this year, we had a whole week just to visit.
Jim and I put that extra time to good use. We cooked six dishes for Thanksgiving dinner; cut down a Christmas tree; took a family trip to the gun range; ate at two separate breakfast restaurants; threw Jim a 30th birthday party; went into Somerville three separate times (and ate Anna’s burritos twice); cleaned and sorted our bike gear; saw every friend we know in Cambridge; watched the new Pixar movie; and got Richardson’s Ice Cream. All in addition to the highlight of the week, the familial Thanksgiving celebration.
I’m glad we were able to take a break. There are definitely things I miss while touring – like pajamas, real kitchens, and the indoor lighting and space to do projects. I caught up on a lot of physical rest, as well as socialization. Visiting people remains one of the most meaningful parts of this trip to me, so seeing my entire family and most of my closest friends was really satisfying.
At the end of my visit, my dad asked if I missed being on the road yet. I realized I don’t miss very much about camping, but I do start to crave the novelty of touring. I’m not tired yet of being somewhere new every day.
Yesterday we flew back to Pensacola and picked up our bikes. It felt surreal to get on a flight to somewhere I had so little connection. It didn’t help that Pensacola is a tiny airport, so we had to take two slightly terrifying flights on a bus-sized 37-seat plane. But once we set up in our motel with the bikes, it felt almost like we had never left. Today, once we finish our errands, we’ll start traveling west again. We’re back to having no deadlines, so we’ll ease back into it.
Good luck on the road again! Looking forward to reading about your adventures, guys!