New Year's Resolution ~ Dealing with returning home

It's funny, when I left for the UK I had read about post-vacation depression but I blew it off as one of those "not going to happen to me" things. Wrong!

Every traveller has a different name for the fallout of a great trip, so let me explain what it is.

Basically, post-vacation depression occurs when you go to a different city, country, or continent and experience a way of life that is completely different from your own. You see new sights, taste new foods and meet new people, essentially you experience this great little thing called culture.

And then you come back home.

The people are the same as you left, the city is the same, you go back to eating the same things you always did and hanging out at the same old haunts.

Home is nice, but you didn't realize how bright and sparkly the world could be until you were seeing something new for the first time in years.

I'll give you an example.

Remember when you got your driver's licence? Think about that first month. You were free! It was like being four years old again, when you got to see everything for the first time, and under your own power no less! Suddenly, riding in the back seat of your parent's car wasn't good enough anymore, you wanted to drive and anything less was a letdown.

Toronto, and my life here, suddenly feel like riding in the back seat.

I've barely travelled, eighteen days is not a long time to be out of Canada, but since I've gotten home everything just seems a little bit bland. Part of this is my own frustration that I came back to find it too cold and snowy to spend endless days wandering the city discovering new things, and laziness in pursuing adventures beyond my experience in Toronto.

This becomes a problem when I intend to continue travelling, I can't mope every time I come home, because that defeats this whole extraordinary life that I'm trying to live.

My solution to this situation basically is this:

I need to find awe and wonder in Toronto. I used to love this city. It used to make me feel alive, and I need to recapture that. I want to get lost in the city, to find something that I've never seen, to explore and be scared and try something new.

So, that's the goal. No weight loss resolutions here, I'm going to re-discover the city in which I live. I'm going to explore, adventure and enjoy Toronto between the many trips I intend to take in the next year.

If you want to join me, let me know.

This week in review / preview...

So, this week has been a challenge thus far, and will continue to be one for the next 5 days.

The to-do list is as follows:

Saturday

1. Doctor's appointment regarding all this upcoming travel and the inoculations / health care odds and ends that we need to figure out - find out I need about a million needles
   
2. Grocery shopping
3. Find out that my medical insurance may not cover all the inoculations
   
4. Finish typing a case that is going to be due soon

Sunday

In bed with a migraine all day

Monday

1. Go to work - expect a full day case, end up with two half day cases (this is good because it's more money) - both cases order leaving me with three transcripts to complete before Friday
2. Coffee with Lasina - <3>
   
3. Shopping for some travel needs
4. Visit with my great grandmother and tell her all about my upcoming vacation and listen to her tell me all about Europe, her travels, and then just hang out which was especially cool
5. Make mental note to visit Nana more, she rocks.
6. Get stuck in the nursing home because neither myself, nor Nana know the code for the door
7. Make mental note to write down the codes on the whiteboard.
8. Come home - type 1.5 of my 3 transcripts which is less of an accomplishment then it sounds like because I'm typing the super easy stuff first because it's on an expedite.
9. Realize I HAVE to clean my room because I'm going to go crazy.

Tuesday

1. Biology Exam
2. English Test
3. Finish 2 more transcripts
4. Clean Room

Wednesday

1. Work full day
2. Finish another transcript
3. Study for Canadian Studies Exam
4. Landry for the trip
5. Start packing
6. Finalize all arrangements

Thursday

1. Canadian Studies Exam
2. Study for English and Chemistry Exams
3. Make up Chemistry Test and Assignment from last week (hopefully *cringe*)
4. Finish Laundry
5. Finish Packing
6. Make sure all transcripts are submitted / billed

Friday

1. Chem & English Finals
2. Clean up room again - It will be a mess again by now
3. Unpack and Repack to make sure I have everything
4. Shopping for any missing odds and ends
5. Re-load my cell phone music list
6. FIND MY HEADPHONES!!!!

Saturday

1. Take a deep breath - the semester is over!
2. Have a few drinks - the semester is over!
3. Re-check everything I've packed
4. Provide emergency contact info to everyone who needs it
5. Panic
6. Stay up all night because I can't sleep because I'm excited

Sunday - LEAVE FOR THE U.K. 18 DAYS IN THE UK BABY! WOOOOOOOOO! Needless to say, I'm not sure if I'll sleep or breathe any time in the next week... but I'm hoping it will be worth it.