Here it is

It is hard to believe this four month trip has finally come to an end. We are flying somewhere over Indiana on our last flight. When we landed in Cinncinati to catch this flight, we looked around with fresh and wide open eyes. Signs in English! Prices in US dollars! The chance of turning a corner and spying a taco bell! Magazines about American movies stars in english! Electrical outlets that we can plug our electronics into without an adaptor! The treasures were endless.

There are so many things we learned and experienced on this journey. It has changed us. How? I am not quite sure. Maybe sometime down the road it will be more clear. But for now, we know that the thirst for travel can never be quenched. We also know that flying never gets less frightening. You still say a prayer during take off and grip the arm rests and clench your teeth during landing. Even after taking over 25 flights in the last 4 months, I still look out the plane window and feel amazed at the fact that such flimsy looking wings are able to keep such a giant object above the clouds. We are now flying over University of Notre Dame. Seems so wierd that all these different places we visited, along with the people at home, keep existing even when we aren't there. While I'm sitting here in the plane flying over Notre Dame, Clayton in Palau may be chewing betel nut, tuk-tuk drivers all over Thailand are overcharging hapless tourists, Yen the tailor is charming a customer in Hoi An Vietnam, the helpful dog in Koh tao is swimming with snorklers, Neo is smiling and cooing in his hospital crib in Lesotho, the sun is setting over the castle in Bled Slovenia, someone is feeding iguanas on the same porch we did in Bonaire, and our family is waiting to meet us at the airport. Right at this moment.

We are close to landing and my heart is starting to beat harder. However, I am strangly calm about facing life. Yes, normal everyday life. We haven't really experienced that for a long time. But in a way it is comforting. Knowing that in 15 minutes we will be seeing our friends and family is also comforting. Another thing we learned. There are so many fun things in life, but so many of them have less meaning if you don't have someone to share them with. Luckily, Jason and I have each other. But there were many times when we would say, "Man, I wish so-and so could see this!"

So we have learned a lot about other cultures and countries. But somehow when you travel, you learn about your own country as well. It is great to be back in America.



The is the last of the world-in-4-months blog. You are welcome to check out Larissa's blog at http://selfglasslooking.blogspot.com. There probably isn't much new there now, but updates should be coming soon.

Thanks so much for following us on our trip, and letting us connect a bit with home along the way.