Homeward Bound

 12/27: Bob and I each set two alarms to make sure we were out of the hotel on time! We drove the 20 minutes to the Ljubljana airport and returned the car (after asking for some guidance from another rental car counter - we thought we had things figured out after our dry run yesterday, but still the instructions from the car company and the signage were not very clear!). We're glad we had plenty of time.

Our flight to Istanbul was on time and easy, but when we landed we learned that our flight to O'Hare was delayed 3 hours. Ugh. Thankfully we were in the IST airport, and not the Sabiha Gokcen airport that we flew into and out of before (where it was so jammed with people and I felt claustrophobic with people bumping into me and violating my personal space). The IST airport we learned was only 6 years old, and it was HUGE. There is basically an enormous mall inside of it with every luxury shop you can imagine. We spent some time walking around, and I pointed out the numerous women with puffed up lips that you could spot from 20 feet away. I laughed at Bob's comments: "Did they do that to themselves? Do they think that looks good?"

The layers of security to board the plane were more intense than we have ever experienced. Everyone had already been through general security, but now we waited in line to go through two different passport check stations, and then various people had their carryon luggage opened and all the contents removed and examined. When we asked why this increased security, they gave us a quizzical look and said this is standard.

Thankfully all went smoothly on our 12 hr flight to O'Hare, and Bob and Quinn had a seat open between them. We breezed through customs as US citizens, all of our bags made it (we never had a lost bag our whole trip!), and we barely made it to the rental car counter before it closed at midnight. It sure would have been nice to arrive at 6:30pm as scheduled instead of 10:30, but we were thankful to be in the US and on our way to my parent's house. Bob was awake enough to drive while the kids zonked and I nodded off. Our 4Runner rental seemed enormous with oh so much room for our luggage and backpacks without having to maximize every square inch of space! The roads and the highway were so wide, and we immediately noticed the difference between European and American drivers (faster and more aggressive). We arrived to Brookfield at 1:30am, gave hugs to my dad who was so happy to see us, and fell into bed at 2am (no checking for bed bugs necessary!)

1am Chicago time, 9am Ljubljana time!

We were so tired, and thought jet lag would not be a big deal, but I was awake at 6am or earlier for the next few nights. It was comforting to be in such a familiar place with my parents. My dad made his homemade bread, our family stopped by to see us (Kurt, Kristine, Alyssa, Thomas, Rachel, and John), Bob and the kids got haircuts (Bob's person got a new clipper for Christmas!), and Simone and I made gingerbread cutout cookies. My mom made the meals we requested: ham loaf (Quinn's favorite) and pork ribs. In a way it felt like a routine holiday visit - except when we remembered we were in Ljubljana only a few days ago.

After 3 nights with my parents we headed off to Madison to spend one night with my best friend from high school and her family. Spending a night with them has become a tradition that we all love and wish we could do more often. We played charades (Simone's request) and the adults played plenty of Pickleball.

The next morning we headed to Wendy and Mats' house where we met up with Gus and Steph and Nick and Gretchen for NYE. We played family Pickleball, took walks, ate Swedish meatballs, and went to the Essen House for a few hours (it will be closing next year).

On 1/2/25 we packed our bags one last time and drove to O'Hare to fly home to Denver. All was on time, and Pharr picked us up (he had dropped us off on June 10). It felt like all was full circle...especially when Bob and Pharr had to use every inch of space to fit our four bags plus an additional one with our extra clothes/souvenirs. The kids and I sat in the backseat with Quinn's luggage on our laps :-)

It was nice to arrive home by about 5pm with enough time to unpack a bit and go to Chipotle for our much awaited dinner! This decision had been made a long time ago, and it was so fun to be sitting at our kitchen table, eating the meals we had been anticipating for so long, in a spot where 7 months ago we ate our last dinner with so many random leftovers to clean out the refrigerator! The unpacking and moving in again (sort of) will take time, but thankfully we have it - school doesn't start until Tuesday, and I'm not working until February. After 50 different pillows and 17 countries, we all were excited to finally sleep in our own beds. Little did we know our hot water heater was not working and would take over a week to get fixed.

Our uncluttered, simple existence has ended and the complexities of home life have started. If we had never left, I would never know anything different. I'm so thankful and grateful for the unforgettable experience. For 6.5 months we took a break from our little world and discovered so many other little worlds. I am thinking about a quote that I read from a woman who spent a year traveling with her family, and she said, "I am small and the world is big."

I think about that and what it means to me...which is that I love to travel and experience, but so what? Traveling full time is not sustainable nor desirable for me. The point is to experience the world, with all of its angles, opinions, and complexities, and then return to your little place and make it better. Smile at people (I appreciate this so much more now after being in Turkey where this didn't happen), and have patience and help people who don't speak your language (because I know how grateful I was to have a kind stranger help us abroad).

Ah ha moment here: I think this is a huge piece of my life that I was missing while we were away. I am such an empathetic person who loves helping people, and I found myself missing my job where I get to help patients every day who are in a very vulnerable and sometimes scared personal place. I hopefully get to ease their anxiety and give them comfort, which brings me so much joy...to help another when they are so nervous and unsure.

I didn't get to do this while we were away - instead I was the one needing help and guidance. What we could do was try to be good travelers and guests in the places we were for a short while...to present a good image of people exploring, of Americans, and of being environmentally conscious.