Back in the USA

We're back! It seems natural to write home after that phrase but I capped it at "We're back" because it doesn't feel like home yet. Mostly of course this is because we left Seattle and have now arrived in Boston. One of the purposes of our trip was to incorporate our around-the-world adventures into our move from Seattle to Boston. But given that we don't know exactly where we're going to live and don't have jobs yet, it certainly doesn't feel like home. Even though the customs agent at Logan International Airport said, "Welcome Home" to us, I still feel like a visitor.

From Iceland

While waiting for Jaimee's family to come pick us up at the airport, I even joked with Jaimee that maybe we should have tried to get to Shrewsbury (where Jaimee's dad and step-mother live) by public transport. We could have added Boston to the list of cities we visited around the world. But, I'm glad her family picked us up. We went straight to a Mexican restaurant for burritos and margaritas, two food items that we continually craved while on our trip. It was a wonderful welcome back into the US.

I have a feeling it will be quite an adjustment period before I think of this area as home. Yes, I was born in Maine, grew up in Vermont, and therefore have a strong emotional connection to New England, but I lived in Seattle for the last 14 years and Boston is very different from Maine and Vermont (and Seattle), to say the least. But this will be good. It's a way of extending our trip in a way, and although it won't be as exotic as our previous locations, I plan on continuing this blog, using it to talk about some of the places we visit while we transition to a more "normal" life. For example, we already have plans for trips to visit Martha's Vineyard next week, Catskill (where we visited last fall) over July 4th weekend and Nantucket at the end of July. Additionally, we are subletting our friend's apartment in Somerville (a neighborhood of Boston) for the month of July, so we'll get a chance to see if Boston living is for us. In general, my plan is to live in the moment, enjoy the memories of our trip and not jump right back into a typical hectic American's life right away.

A few notes about Iceland to finish off where we left it the last time: We found the hot river area of Hveragerdi at it was amazing. It was about an hour hike through incredible terrain to an area where a glacial river runs into steaming water creating a perfect temperature for sitting and soaking. Even though the weather turned cold and rainy we soaked in the river and even enjoyed a natural waterfall massage.

From Iceland

Also, the Blue Lagoon is amazing! We spent the morning there between dropping off our rental car and catching our flight to Boston. It's an eerie area where the hot springs mix with minerals and silica creating a blue-milky colored water that felt so nice to relax in. It was a perfect ending to a perfect ending destination.