California, I’m coming home
At a dinner with other travel bloggers and long-term travelers in Chiang Mai, someone asked what we all disliked most about home. Complaints flew about the bleak weather, the loud politics, the close-minded attitudes.
I sat silent, instead thinking of all that I love and miss about my home state of California. The stifling dry heat in the summer, best quenched with an AC-filled afternoon at Tower Theatre or a glass of icy pink lemonade by the pool. Non-smoking restaurants, bars, parks. Saturday mornings at farmers markets: popping crisp local apples and homemade tamales into a reusable Chico Bag while sipping a steaming chai latte. Mexican food joints where the grease of a shredded beef taco pours out of the Styrofoam container, where you scoop salsa into little plastic cups and sip horchata through a straw.
There are definitely some things that make me wince: the lack of affordable healthcare, men deciding what rights women have to their own bodies. The entire political and media showcase, insane portion sizes, two weeks of vacation. The workaholic and obesity epidemics.
When I first started traveling, I articulated my need to see the world by saying that I knew I loved San Francisco, Sacramento, Chico and that I’d be very happy living in Northern California for the rest of my life. But what if there was somewhere out there that I loved even more? I wouldn’t know unless I left to find out.
I’m still not sure I’ve found a place that I love more than Northern California. I still daydream about sunny days in Melbourne: it’s the only other place I’ve discovered that I think I could happily work, raise a family, really settle down. There are many places in the world that I’d love to visit, again and again, and even more that I haven’t explored yet.
But Northern California is home, and I’ve been gone for more than a year, the longest I’ve ever been away. My family dog passed away, and my parents got a new puppy. Friends have been promoted, become engaged, broken up with partners, gotten pregnant, had babies–and others have stayed completely the same. I’ve missed spring, summer, fall, winter—baseball, football and basketball seasons.
I’m not moving back just yet, but I am looking forward to 10 weeks of springtime in California to recharge before my next adventure. Sucking the orange from the pitcher of Blue Moon. Yoga in the park, bike rides along the creek. Watching the Kings beat the Lakers in Arco Arena. Home sweet home: my mom’s apple pie, Mimi’s chocolate chip cookies, my dad’s oatmeal cookies. Cocktails, dancing and high heels in San Francisco.
In the wise words of Joni Mitchell: California, I’m coming home. [Right now to be exact: en route from Hanoi to Bangkok to Los Angeles to Sacramento as this goes live!]
I still have plenty of Southeast Asia stories to tell and photos to share; however, if you follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook: don’t be surprised if updates are coming from the Golden State.
