As promised, here are some notes on my experiences of the first month of being back.

I’m still refreshed and excited. I still have lots of energy – more than before the trip. I notice my energy levels. I’m supper happy. I appreciate where I’am – living in San Francisco, having a fantastic job and a dance scene.

I have a bag of stories that I can tell and relate with people. Also those experiences are prompts for more discussions and learnings because of those discussions. I can relate to people better when I first meet them – somebody from Japan, somebody who also went to Bali. I can share my stories and experiences related to their story and so it is easier to connect and keep the conversation moving. Perhaps I seem more interesting now? I remember some years ago I noticed how somebody would so easily make conversations with new people because he had been to so many places. I wanted to be like that. Now I’m slightly more like that. Next step would be to become a better story teller.

I still haven’t unpacked my closet. Before leaving I packed up my room and put everything in the closet. Now, I don’t even need all that stuff.  Daily I use mostly the same stuff that I backpacked with plus more towels, bath-robe, slippers, few extra sweaters, 2 extra jackets. It feels free to not have my room packed with stuff, the need for stuff has decreased a lot.

Time to time I run into acquaintances and they comment about my blog. That still surprises me, that there are a number of people who are reading this blog. 🙂 Sometimes I receive a message how my story has inspired somebody to take action. Its very humbling and it makes my day (and even the whole week) and it keeps me writing!

I like the improvements I have made in my daily routine. I work on the way to work and I’m reading on my way home. That means I have carved out a consistent amount of time to read, which means I get to keep the reading habit I had during my trip.

I’m trying really hard to carve out “me time”. I realized during travels how important it is for me. I enjoy being social and being with people but time to time I need to be alone as well.

Most importantly it is much easier to write. Especially the small things – emails, reviews, commenting on Facebook posts. Now I don’t have to think about it that much and re-read and re-write what I have written a million times before pressing the send button (or sometimes even deleting and not hitting send/post).