I'm Going Home
Hello friends! How are you today? I'm very busy gearing up for my big book tour - I'm going back to America for two weeks (details here) and I'll visit my home, Boston, as the first stop and continue on from there to Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Philadelphia and New York. Then I'll be flying back to give a lecture at The Creative Connection in St. Paul where I'll be spending a week, and THEN I'm going to London to speak at three events and do a book signing as well. It's going to be a wild August and September for me! How are you doing?
As an expat who happens to love living in a new culture versus so many who, over time, become quite homesick... I am very excited about returning to my home country. I didn't think that I would be this excited but the truth is, I am surprised at just how excited I am. Perhaps I missed the familiarities of home more than I thought? I already have certain foods on my list of "must eats" and stores to visit and products and clothes that I want to grab to tuck into my suitcase. I'll miss my husband -- I'll be gone a total of 4 weeks over a span of 6 weeks, so I know it will be hard for us both to be apart for such a long time as we are extremely close but I think going back to America alone will be a big experience for me and it may even be one that I will grow from.
One thing that I have felt a bit sad about is that my book has been so successful in America yet I'm not there to be a part of any of it. I've not yet walked into a US store to see my book laying there, I don't get to pick up all of the newspapers and magazines on the newsstand to read the reviews live and in the moment -- it's a bit strange to be so far removed from it during a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So many of my readers have been sending me photos of my book in stores that they visit and I'm so extremely thankful to them for doing that because it helps me to feel somewhat a part of it all. The book is going to be reprinted a THIRD time in the US and UK now, I can't even believe all of the copies that are out there now - it is mind boggling to imagine that it made the Wall Street Journal Best Seller list at #2.
And still, again, I'm over here in Germany and don't "feel" it the same as I would if I still lived in America. I am sensing that once I'm over there on my book tour that this will all feel very real to me and I'm excited about it - I want it to feel real because it still doesn't... And meeting my friends and readers on the tour will help it to feel real. I'm so excited to meet them because they made this book successful and I felt overwhelmed with gratitude... I think I'll be more excited to meet them than they will be to see me!
I am SO ready to go to America with my camera in one hand, my iPhone in the other for Instagram of course, and my half full suitcase so I can fill the other half with things from home. I'll see my friends, my family and meet so many others. It's going to be a trip I'll never, ever forget. The trip of a lifetime outside of my honeymoon, really. I can't wait to share it all with you when I return in September.
I wonder what it will feel like to land in Boston after being away for two years? I'm returning the very same month that I left, two years ago. It's going to be surreal I think. I know I'll cry. I already have a landing playlist. I know it sounds strange but before I land in each city, I am going to play a song that will be my city song, the theme... and put me in a positive space because I think returning home will make me a bit emotional especially going back alone.
Have any of you returned to your home country after being away for awhile and if so, how did it feel? Did you look at things differently? Did you feel differently inside? Did you get emotional? Was it hard for you to leave?
I can't wait to be back home!
(images: holly becker)
As an expat who happens to love living in a new culture versus so many who, over time, become quite homesick... I am very excited about returning to my home country. I didn't think that I would be this excited but the truth is, I am surprised at just how excited I am. Perhaps I missed the familiarities of home more than I thought? I already have certain foods on my list of "must eats" and stores to visit and products and clothes that I want to grab to tuck into my suitcase. I'll miss my husband -- I'll be gone a total of 4 weeks over a span of 6 weeks, so I know it will be hard for us both to be apart for such a long time as we are extremely close but I think going back to America alone will be a big experience for me and it may even be one that I will grow from.
One thing that I have felt a bit sad about is that my book has been so successful in America yet I'm not there to be a part of any of it. I've not yet walked into a US store to see my book laying there, I don't get to pick up all of the newspapers and magazines on the newsstand to read the reviews live and in the moment -- it's a bit strange to be so far removed from it during a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So many of my readers have been sending me photos of my book in stores that they visit and I'm so extremely thankful to them for doing that because it helps me to feel somewhat a part of it all. The book is going to be reprinted a THIRD time in the US and UK now, I can't even believe all of the copies that are out there now - it is mind boggling to imagine that it made the Wall Street Journal Best Seller list at #2.
And still, again, I'm over here in Germany and don't "feel" it the same as I would if I still lived in America. I am sensing that once I'm over there on my book tour that this will all feel very real to me and I'm excited about it - I want it to feel real because it still doesn't... And meeting my friends and readers on the tour will help it to feel real. I'm so excited to meet them because they made this book successful and I felt overwhelmed with gratitude... I think I'll be more excited to meet them than they will be to see me!
I am SO ready to go to America with my camera in one hand, my iPhone in the other for Instagram of course, and my half full suitcase so I can fill the other half with things from home. I'll see my friends, my family and meet so many others. It's going to be a trip I'll never, ever forget. The trip of a lifetime outside of my honeymoon, really. I can't wait to share it all with you when I return in September.
I wonder what it will feel like to land in Boston after being away for two years? I'm returning the very same month that I left, two years ago. It's going to be surreal I think. I know I'll cry. I already have a landing playlist. I know it sounds strange but before I land in each city, I am going to play a song that will be my city song, the theme... and put me in a positive space because I think returning home will make me a bit emotional especially going back alone.
Have any of you returned to your home country after being away for awhile and if so, how did it feel? Did you look at things differently? Did you feel differently inside? Did you get emotional? Was it hard for you to leave?
I can't wait to be back home!
(images: holly becker)
Comments
Just like you I left one month and returned 2 years later, that same month. I came back for good, so, well, it's different. I left with my husband but returned alone (he stayed a couple of weeks to finalize taxes and what not), and I was 2 months pregnant but we hadn't told anyone, so...
I felt I sneaked in, which felt exhilarating. And for some weird reason I made the last part of the trip, a 3 hour flight over the Andean Cordillera, in first class - which was classic! (me! having an airplane lunch with menu and real cutlery and stemware! wow!).
That's my return story. Nothing like yours, right?
I mostly found that I missed the history and geography, being near the sea especially. But it was hard because home was frozen in time for me and all these things - big and little - had changed.
I found myself loving it, critical of Ireland, reveling in all I loved. But I also found it reinforced that I'm where I belong now. That said, I also committed to getting back home more often - it's a connection I will always feel and it was too hard to be away for so long.
When I lived in the US I didn't go home for a full year and as soon as the plane landed on soft green Dutch grass I wept quite softly in my seat. When we drove from Wellesley to Logan Airport 'Fire and Rain' by James Taylor played on the car radio I always associated that song with the beautiful movie "Running on Empty'. I felt so special that the DJ on duty picked that song as my farewell song. Bless him.
Enjoy Holly xox
It is so interesting to me to read about your experiences and also your readers' comments. For me it's the other way around, I am German but for the last 20 (!) years I have lived abroad, 15 years in the UK and the last six here in the US. Because I used to work for Lufthansa going home was always easy and something I did frequently during my years in London.
I visited my home town of Cologne a couple of weeks ago, after an absence of nearly two years. It was an interesting experience as I have always felt more at home in England and thought if I ever went back to Europe that it would be to London. But since our most recent trip my husband and I are now considering a move to Germany! Mostly because I would like to be closer to my aging parents, but I have to say that I am appreciating my home country in new ways and feel excited about this possibility, especially as life in the US is kind of hard for me, I miss the more active and social lifestyle I had in Europe.
Good luck with all your travels, Holly, I love the excitement you feel and how you share it with your readers. Have a great book tour!
Although I don't live abroad, I do live 2,000 miles from where I grew up. Every time I go home, I have so many of the same feelings that everyone has described here (as much as I hated living in my hometown, the longer I'm away, the more homesick I become). It's so nice to hear that I'm not the only one with these experiences. It's also nice to know that even though there is nothing more wonderful to me than going home, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's where I'm supposed to be.
Thanks for bringing this topic up. I'm surprised by how much I connected with it.
After 9 years in Europe, I am moving back to my home state of MN in September. I'm so grateful to you because you were the one to mention the Creative Connection event that I'm trying to figure out how to attend. Your blogs have been such a bright light during my last year in Germany!
I'm sure it will be hard for you to be apart from your man, but solo trips empower us and we come out stronger. Reconnecting with our loved ones is so good for the soul!
I hope our paths cross in MN. I can't wait to see your book! Best wishes from Ochsenfurt, tj
But it was bliss being able to read and understand everything again.
The hardest thing for me is now being a third culture person where nowhere *quite* fits perfectly. Some things make me crazy here, some there, and so on. Things have become pretty stripped down in my mind in terms of where I feel 'at home' -it's mainly when I'm with friends and family, no matter where we are. It can also be with food/smells/scenery, but those are mostly associated with memories and not present-moment. (but yeah, I can't wait for some Carolina BBQ, Calabash shrimp, etc!)
I definitely go on shopping binges in the US b/c stuff is just flat out cheaper. I literally fill my suitcases with worn out stuff, get there and toss or donate it, then buy new stuff to wear on the trip and to bring home. I'm not even going to talk about visits to the craft and fabric stores...ha ha!
therefore all the best wishes to you; that it will be a completely positive thing (also the return to germany -it's going to be hard, even if your husband is waiting here)
:)
As re going back home, in thinking about your question, I realized i've done it three big times in my life: moving back home to the States after going to first grade and part of second in Scotland (try moving back to small-town Oklahoma with a think Scottish accent!!); moving back to the States after a year teaching English in Hungary in the early 1990s; and in 2006 after finishing up a two-year posting in France.
The third time didn't stick .. . I came back for good in May 2008 because I married a guy I met here. All the same while I love living in Paris I DO miss home and my family and friends terribly - but my life has a richness to it here that I think I would miss back home. I love living in another language, and while I'm not using my fancy degrees and am "just" a secretary, here I go have that intellectual stimulation of living in another culture (French) and trying to learn more and more about a third (Italian, which I'm part of now because my husband's Italian).
So I think it's totally logical to love and miss both at the same time. It's called the human condition!!!
Love that you have a soundtrack planned, that's lovely. Maybe you'll share with us your songs, although that's also really personal I understand!!
All the best for a wonderful trip home.
Yes! There´s nothing, nothing that compares to the plane approaching Lisbon. Oh. I have goosebumps, thinking of it.
Happy return!
Two weeks ago, I just returned back to Hamburg after having had a 3-week vacation with my family. (My brother got married!) I've only been in Hamburg for a year and saw them last summer, but I've been in Europe for 2 years now and it's only just this year that I've begun to feel a teensy bit homesick.
So coming home this summer was such a wonderful time! For me, everything felt really comfortable coming back to the US. (I also had a list of food & drink I wanted to have - like root beer & cream soda and Rita's gelato!)
I definitely looked at things differently. For one thing, I noticed how Americans are um...built...differently than Europeans, physically. I also was amused at how BIG everything was (gallons of milk, etc.) and just at little things I once thought of as normal.
When it came time to leave, though, I got very emotional...starting about three days before I had to go. It was especially hard saying goodbye to my family, and then really awful saying bye to my parents at the airport. I cried on the plane a little bit too, enough that I think I worried my German boyfriend that I was unhappy to go back to Germany with him. (I reassured him though that I'm happy to come back with him, it's just that goodbyes are hard.)
Well, those are just some of my experiences, to answer your questions. I wish you a wonderful trip and I hope that you really enjoy it! Let us know how the trip was! It must be so exciting to see your book in person in the US now!
Speaking of New England, I saw in one of your posts that you lived in Hollis NH??? I'm not too far from Nashua and do most of my shopping there. My husband's family lives in Dunstable, just 20 min. from where I live now. And my daughters and I go strawberry picking at Lull farm in Hollis because it has the best prices around. It truly is a lovely town, but then, you have lots of loveliness in Germany to enjoy as well. :)
we are so excited to welcome you back to boston! I was afraid I'd miss your signing because I have tickets to futures at fenway, but since it's in the morning, I can do both! I don't have any stories about re-entry, but I'm very curious about your landing playlists and city theme songs. Music is something that I'm very passionate about and often will 'pack' my ipod before my suitcase for a trip. safe travels!
kristen
I did look at things differently but I think I just learned to appreciate everything about Denmark and about home and feel grateful for my newfound perspective and loves.