I am Australia bound in T-minus 2 days!

It’s been a year and a half since I’ve seen my loved ones – the longest time I’ve ever been away. It’s certainly been hard at times – home-sickness has definitely reared its uncomfortable head. But for the most part, it’s been fantastic, and I’m extremely proud of how well I’ve adapted to life abroad. But it’s time, it’s time to pay a visit to my roots.

How blessed I am to have a home that makes being away from so tainted. I know how lucky I am.

I will be home for a month, and when I return to Canada I will be relocating to Vancouver to pursue my career goals.

I’m excited to head home, but it also doesn’t yet feel real. I had my final day at work today, and saying my goodbyes to the team felt so surreal. Even as I write this, my place is filled with half-packed boxes & suitcases, but it still doesn’t feel like I’m really leaving. This always happens to me with big changes; it doesn’t sink in until after the fact. I know when my plane takes off on Tuesday afternoon that I will be overwhelmed with emotion, but for now I’m feeling a slight detachment, kind of like I’m watching from the outside in.

I am returning to the motherland to attend my best friend’s wedding.  I’m so excited for that, what an incredible celebration it’s going to be!  I’m also feeling anxious, as a close relative has just been in hospital for a biopsy and we are awaiting the results. This came as a real shock to us, I guess you can never prepare for these things. It’s so strange to feel two opposing emotions at the same time. But they both stem from love, which I guess makes sense that they can be experienced simultaneously.

I cant wait to be amongst the familiar – people and surroundings. To share home cooked meals with family, to smell the eucalyptus, to see the ocean again, to walk along the beach and feel the sand between my toes. But most of all I cant wait to hug my friends and family so tight – that’s what I’m really going home for.

This trip for me is all about ~

• togetherness with loved ones
• re-connecting to my roots
• celebration
• long walks, long chats, and extra long embraces
• catching up with old friends
• enjoying the moment
• gratitude

I know as soon as I arrive home that I will be grounded. Though in these final days before I leave, it’s going to be a struggle to stay present. My mind constantly wanders from such highs to lows – sometimes in the same breath. Excitement and anticipation are juxtaposed with anxiety and worry. It’s been a bizarre experience for me.

I need to ground myself, and make the most of my final days in my beautiful mountain town.

I’m just glad that in a few short days I will be where I need to be right now, home.

Now all I need to do is click my heels together three times . . .

There’s no place like home . . . there’s no place like home . . . there’s no place like home. . .

“Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes