Home Brings Mixed Emotions.

We arrived back in California last Sunday and have many stories to share about our final weeks in Vietnam and Indonesia.  Forgive us for not posting photos for the last month; we didn't want to risk getting more viruses from internet cafe computers (you never know where those things have been.)  Since our computers work SO much better here than they did in Asia, we will edit down our photographs before posting them to Picasa and save you the torture of looking at every single picture we snapped.  Come back to the blog in a few days and hopefully we'll have a link ready for your viewing pleasure.

There is so much that we would both like to reflect on, but I don't think we'll be able to do it in one blog post.  For now, I will just say that this trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  Our travels have fundamentally changed who I am (in a good way) and have given me a broader, more dimensioned perspective on the world and the people in it.  Maybe that sounds cliche, but it's true.  If you have done a trip like this, or even traveled for just a week or two at a time, you know what I mean.

While we were gone, Tyson's sister Teagan left to spend 10 weeks in Cuba for her last semester at college.  A few weeks into her trip, she sent us an email opining that travel should be a requirement for everyone.  I completely agree.  Traveling forces you out of your comfort zone.  It tests your strength and your courage and your bowels.  It opens you up to unexpected interactions, unfamiliar situations, and whim.  It teaches you about yourself and what you are capable of.  It heightens your senses (sometimes this is not a good thing.)  It shows you how breathtaking and heartbreaking this earth is and how we are all beautifully, subtlety connected.

Even though our trip has ended, we intend to try to keep the blog going.  Hopefully, we'll have some interesting things to write about even though we are back in America.  In fact, just yesterday, when Tyson and I were heading up the stairs at the post office, we saw a large homeless woman who was bending over wearing a short summer dress.  Not very noteworthy, right?  Except that it is blog-worthy when said woman fails to wear underpants.  Seriously.  Bare ass and then some on the steps of the Santa Barbara post office.  Now that is a good travel story.  (Thankfully, there are no photos.)