The road trip is over. We are home, we are unpacked, we are back to work. I had intended to update sporadically over the course of the trip, with whatever insight and observations were floating around my head at the moment.

But, as all worthwhile vacations do, this one swallowed me whole and such plans were forgotten. In the end, we probably totaled somewhere around 3o hours in the car and put 2000 miles on the odometer. Not bad for ten days work.

Today is proving to be especially trying. After a wonderful week of friends and family, it’s had to drive a third of the way across the country, away from all that – away from home, for no other reason than that this is where you’ve chosen to live. Why did I choose that again? Oh, right, the job. The job is here and the job is teaching me a lot and giving me good experience. When the time comes, the job will look mighty nice on a resume. But in some ways, the job was my port in a storm. I’ve anchored while the storm’s raged, but I haven’t been curled up idle in my bunk. I’ve been patching leaks, mending sails, and shoring up the hull. Sure, this little bay I’ve found is fine, but it’s awfully far away from home, and I have a hunch that there’s a better anchorage out there. Just need to wait a little bit more, let the wind die, and see what tomorrow brings.

Extended, obvious, and tiresome metaphors aside, the people and places I saw on the vacation and the sense of home that both brought me have me feeling grateful, relaxed, and introspective. I am friends with and related to some awfully good people. And they are so very far away.

One of these tomorrows, the wind will die and repairs will be complete. I wonder what that day will bring.