So we are back home in Oklahoma City temporarily before heading to Asia. Coming back to the US has been awesome and a little bit of an adjustment.

Before heading to Hawaii from Uganda we decided to join Kyle and Sara from Short and Tall Tales for a trip to Ghombe National Park to trek for some Chimpanzees. We got in touch with them through our wedding photographers and ever since then we stayed in touch. The trekking was awesome, and seeing the chimps so close was pretty sweet. Apart from the trip to Tanzania, we really enjoyed talking with them before coming back to the US. It wasn’t just enjoyed, but needed.

We love all our families and friends, but to talk to another couple who were experiencing the same things we did, was a great relief. We discussed our desires to keep traveling, our struggles while traveling, anxiety on both dodgy and non dodgy flights, how some people support our decision and some don’t, needing to have a break from traveling, and on and on. I felt like we both unloaded on each other telling stories back and forth, and sharing feelings back and forth the whole 5 days. In Dar I realized I was in the wrong taxi with the wrong guys at the wrong time…I was so done camping after 18 days in Africa…Hiking near Patagonia was awesome…Wes blew chunks while on the ocean off the coast of the Azores…You had a goat slaughtered? So did we.

It was good to relate to another couple who were dong the same thing we were, but doing it for about 7 months longer than us. For anyone traveling on a RTW trip I would highly suggest trying to meet up with others who are doing the same thing, to get advice, share similar stories, and realize that they (just as much as you) have similar fears and troubles.

After traveling for 8 months overseas, coming back to the US takes a little bit getting used to, especially after being in Africa for two months.

Here are things we noticed the first few days being in the USA.

– There is a water fountain almost everywhere we look
– Bathrooms with seats are available for free and don’t have spiders in them
– Soap and toilet paper in bathrooms is usually a 100% guarantee
– We can brush our teeth in the sink with tap water
– Electricity is always on
– A waiter at a restaurant comes by in about two seconds when we sit down to eat
– Everything sold in stores is organized, very abundant, with 25 different varieties for each product
– Wine is more expensive than what we were used to
– We can get refills at resturants and the amount of ice we have in our drinks is crazy
– We can walk straight into a pharmacy and know what medication to buy
– Having a simple salad at lunch with different options for dressings is a great thing
– Paying by credit card, and not having to do exchange rates, and exchanging foreign bills is so nice
– Knowing exactly what we order at a restaurant will be what we think it is
– Guarantee of fast internet
– There is a plethora of choices everywhere we go. We could spend 30 minutes trying to pick out what type of granola to buy at the grocery store, compared to eating out in africa only having one option for what they served that day.
– A lot of things we overhear are other people talking about their STUFF (how their phone broke, how they want to buy another car, how the want to improve their house)
– Electricity in the US is used for lighting up peoples christmas lights, where the electricity in other countries might be so scarce they don’t have it in most houses
– We have laws about children in car seats. In other countries they can’t afford a dirt bike.
– We are not scared of mosquitos bites anymore
– We don’t feel like this after eating a normal lunch