What You Bring Home
Bringing home memories that change you forever
Coming home isn’t always easy, but it is easy to spot what you bring home. Suitcases are overstuffed with beautiful new clothes and scarves, impossibly beautiful works of art, and snacks you know you can’t find at home. Your camera’s memory card is full of amazing photos that will transport you back to those moments in time for years to come.
Maps and brochures are tucked haphazardly on the outside of your luggage and a few foreign coins have managed to sneak home in the corners of your wallet. Your passport has a new stamp and, somehow, your shoes still have dirt from you trip on them.
Foreign receipts and excursion tickets are crumpled in jacket pockets while your treasures are carefully unpacked and given a place of honor in your home.
But, what else did you bring home?
Some people collect magnets wherever they go, some collect postcards and stamps, others sample wines and liquors, and still others collect local art and games. You may have brought home new decorations, a bag of wool you sheared yourself, or even a new piece of jewelry.
But look closer at the travelers and look closer at yourself. What else did you bring home?
There’s always something a little different about someone who has come home from afar.
What is it that they brought home?
If nothing else, they — and you — certainly brought home memories. You brought home memories that will comfort you in darkest days; the memories of experiences that changed you as a person — memories that altered how you view the world.
Do you view the world differently having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world? Have you become kinder to others because of the kindness you have been shown by absolute strangers? Have you become stronger and more confident in yourself because you’ve had to to survive your travels?
To me, the answer is yes. Yes to all of the above.
Having seen the moon shine so clearly in the Southern Hemisphere surrounded by bright constellations I had never seen before, I realized how very small I am. I look up at the same moon as 7 billion other people and we all see stars from other solar systems unfathomably far away. Suddenly the problems I have seem insignificant and small. From my ship in the middle of the ocean with nothing but moonlight, stars, and their pristine reflection in all directions, you realize that even your whole ship is insignificant. The entire world could have been blown up while you sailed and your tiny ship would be none the wiser.
How strange to be so completely alone in a world that usually seems so crowded. When seas turned violent and we were all locked inside to be thrown around like rag-dolls, we realized that our lives were truly at the mercy of the raging sea. We couldn’t sleep because of the noise of things crashing; we couldn’t stand because of the violent force of the waves slamming into and over the ship; so we sat around tables that were bolted to the floor and did the one thing we could do — enjoyed each other’s company and the terrifying ride.
Seeing the moon shine brightly over a calm harbor just days after the violence of the storm, changes you. I carry that memory with me and I am a different person because of it. A little turbulence in my life doesn’t bother me the way it used to because I know the moon will shine on calm waters again.
The kindness of strangers
I am kinder and more patient with others because of the kindness strangers have shown me all over the world. Completely lost in an underground metro in Tokyo, Japan, I asked an old woman to help us. She didn’t speak any English; I didn’t speak more than 3 phrases in Japanese. We tried to mime what we were looking for, but it was no use. We thanked her and she walked away.
Many frustrating minutes later still staring at the incomprehensible tangle of metro lines drawn on the wall map, the old woman came back with a rail worker in tow. While he tried to help us, the old woman stayed and interjected in Japanese to him. She didn’t leave our side for the next hour as we attempted to find our way to our destination. The old woman stayed with us until she had walked us to the right platform and watched us get on the train.
I remember her kindness and patience and all the time she took out of her day to help some lost young women. I know she had somewhere she was going, but she helped us anyway. I remind myself to be patient like her, even when I want to get frustrated with someone who is asking for my help. Her help meant so much to me then, and I am grateful to her still for helping me become kinder too.
You can handle anything
My travels have helped me realize I can handle anything life throws at me. Looking for a place to stay in a country where passports are required but you don’t have yours? Handle it.
A cab driver locks his doors with you inside and demands 10x the fare before he will let you out? Figure it out. You’re left on a sandbar far from shore with the tide coming in to cover it? I hope you can swim. Almost pass out from climbing a mountain only to realize you have to climb back down now? You better keep going. Scuba instructor abandons you with your tank and tubes tangled on the coral reef? Make a plan to get unstuck — and do not panic! A herd of bison have surrounded your car and you can’t get out of the massive moving herd? Drive very carefully.
When faced with all of that, and successfully navigating all of these situations (among many others), it’s hard not to gain confidence in yourself. If you can handle all of that, you can handle anything.
Each experience from your travels comes home with you. It comes home with you in how you see the word and a renewed sense of wonder. You bring home a flair for the exotic with memories of Amazonian fruit, Moroccan spices, and Vietnamese coffee; plus, you bring home the steel stomach you earned too. You bring home a new-found respect for other cultures and other places, and you may find yourself coming home and questioning some long-held beliefs.
No matter what you physically bring home — souvenirs, photos, money, or scars — the most important thing to bring home is the changed version of yourself. Bring home the memories to improve yourself, and an unwavering smile to make the world a better place.
Leana’s an avid world traveler who has been to over 40 countries and will be venturing to her 7th continent in 2022. She believes in ubuntu and that adventures make life worth living. To follow her journey as a plus-sized woman with unquenchable wanderlust as she continues to seek out all that the world has to offer, you can check out The Overweight Adventurer.
