Coming Home – not quite what you expected
No one ever warns you about reverse culture shock. In my young 20s, whenever I would speak to someone who had just come back from some extended trip in Europe or Asia, no one ever told me about the mental crash that happens once you get home.
The first few days home are great. You get to see your family and friends, eat in your favorite restaurants and enjoy all the things about American culture that you missed so dearly while you were away. Things like free refills, friendly customer service, Trader Joe’s, organic produce, big breakfasts, coffee to go, cheddar cheese, pre-paid cell phones and of course, speaking good ol’ American English anytime, anywhere are just some of the things that will make you smile and thank the good Lord himself for bringing you home safely.
But then the reality sets in. There is no next great place to check out (besides your same old haunts that you’ve been going to for years), there are no more fellow travelers around who are eager to meet new friends on the street and make impromptu plans for the night, there are no new customs to learn nor any interesting new foods or drinks to try. Life back home, you realize, is incredibly boring.
Depending on how long you’ve been gone, the reverse culture shock varies in intensity. After a single month, you’ll barely notice anything more than a little post-vacation blues. But should you stay out there for 3 months or longer, beware of the inevitable crash into the brick wall of day-to-day life. Your friends will want to hear about your trip for the first few days, and they may even tolerate your stories for a good week or two after you get back. But that’s it. After that, you better get back to reality and talk about life as they know it – the same, linear existence you lived before you left.
So you found enlightenment on a mountain top in Nepal? Right on, better figure out how to incorporate that into finding yourself a job. You jumped from a plane at 14,000 feet over the east coast of Australia? Cool, I hope you got a picture cause that was probably the most expensive 10 minutes of your life. You discovered God in Thailand and converted to Buddhism? Great, hopefully that minimalist philosophy will help you face the fact that you’re totally broke now.
Making the transition from your extraordinary life of travel and adventure to the far less appealing ordinary life of the daily grind is the first challenge of coming home. Reverse culture shock begins with the abrupt realization that the adventure is over, but what comes next is even worse…
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Tags: adventure, around the world, extended travel
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