As I said last time, before I went on my traveling, I was like most of the people I know: living my own little day to day routine: job, friends, family, vacations… until the day I jumped away from my comfort zone to find… much more comfort than I thought would be possible!

Many times, people around the world asked me what my friends, family and boss think of my travelling. I must say I feel the luckiest traveler in the world because all of them, no exception, supported me 100%, not that it would have stopped me otherwise… It is so amazing to see your boss claiming it is exactly what you needed, your brother predicting the reactions of all the family members, your best friend asking you to enjoy and come back… and all the people you talk to being fascinated by this perspective.

Recently, a friend of a friend of mine asked me the most accurate question anyone has asked me about traveling: what about coming back to your old routine?

I guess that’s the main issue of travelers.

I guess the first answer would be: you just can’t go back to your old routine because you are not the person you used to be anymore. So, once again, you need to sort out what you will keep from your old life from what you will separate from, and to decide what you will add from your traveling experiences. It’s not an easy job. You can’t know write away what to keep and what to change. For some things you need some time to see how much it fits or not in your new life. And when life has been running quickly while you were traveling, that waiting can sometimes feel unbearable… 2 months after being back, I know I still have to wait to figure out some things : wait to move in my new apartment, wait to see how work goes after people are back from summer holidays, wait to see how my routine turns out once I’ve seen all the people I haven’t seen for 8 months, wait to see how it goes to not have 45 minutes of transportation every morning and every evening…

Yes, coming back is probably the most difficult part in traveling.

But still, as difficult as it is to see that you have changed, that you know yourself better, it’s awesome because you actually know yourself better: you stop doing things you don’t like and dare do things you actually like!