May 6th – 9th, 2019
Brendan and I spent the next few days traveling back home. He flew to Eugene, OR and I flew to Seattle, WA. Brendan had to get to Eugene as soon as possible as our party bus was rented and he needed to get it ready. At the last moment before leaving on our trip in February, we moved some of our storage stuff into the bus. My car was in Seattle and it made the most sense with flight prices to fly separately. The only problem was (at least for my family), I ended up traveling alone without a phone as it was stolen while in Buenos Aires and my replacement was waiting for me in Seattle. Brendan also needed the laptop for school. I didn’t have any way to communicate during those few travel days. It wasn’t too bad though. I had all my flight numbers written down and bought a paperback book to read during all the travel time. I stayed an extra night in Lima at a nice little hostel not far from the airport. My flights took me from Lima to Mexico City, to Los Angeles and to Seattle. Brendan’s flights went from Lima to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Seattle and Eugene. There was bad weather in Houston which caused Brendan a 36-hour delay in Fort Lauderdale.
When I landed in Los Angeles back in the United States, it was such an interesting feeling! Even the big city of Los Angeles felt like home as everything seemed more familiar. There was no language barrier nor feeling like a foreigner in a strange country! Going through Customs and re-entry into the United States caused me to be excited about the questions I thought would be asked… how long you have been traveling, what was the purpose of your visit etc. I was excited to share that I just finished a trip of a lifetime, visiting seven different countries while learning about different cultures, language, and history. To my surprise, the officer barely glanced up at me while he hurriedly stamped my paper without even saying hello or welcome back. I realized the United States Border Patrol does not care where I have been or what I have done for the last three months. Oh well, it still felt really good to be home. Since I had an overnight layover, I took time after landing to step outside and breathe some of the fresh South-West Los Angeles air. It was very different not having a phone to do all the usual text messages to my family that I had landed safe. I thought it would be kind of nice not to have the obligatory communication. However, when it sunk in that I had no way to call or talk to anyone, I felt a huge sense of gratitude to have so many people in my life that cared if I landed safely or not. I did a few laps around the terminal before finding a place to crash for the night, very excited to get home.
After what felt like a long journey for both Brendan and me, we each finally made it to our families. I got my new phone and it was VERY good to be back!