Welcome back to Solo Han. I promised first to myself, and then to all of you that I wasn’t done, although my two week break from traveling revealed itself to be a 4 month break. This is so exciting for me to post because it means in just a few days I’ll be back on the road again…or in the sky again.
After 7 months of traveling from Portugal to Thailand I came back to the U.S for my friend Michaela’s wedding in Arizona. It was goegeous. I got the honor of being apart of the happiest day of her life. I washed off all the backpacking grime, traded my ripped up pants for a dress and after getting my hair and makeup done I didn’t even recognize myself! We had a blast and the best part for me was to be able to see so many people at the wedding that I missed while I was away. My mom, sister and neighbors from home that are basically another mom and more sisters, came down to AZ to see me before the wedding. The thought of seeing them is what got me through 29 hours of traveling to get there.
A few days after the wedding I was pulling up flights online. I put a ticket in checkout for Nepal… then Ireland, Croatia, and even Thailand again but when it came down to the moment of pressing confirm I couldn’t do it. Something held me back. If I’ve learned anything in the 7 months I spent solo traveling it’s to listen to that little, comforting voice in the back of my mind that says “just wait”. I can be impatient though. My close friends and family watched me suffer through this back and forth of should I stay or should I go??? I was worried that if I stayed I would be done traveling. I’d get sucked into the comforts of the Midwest and settle down. I was worried that if I left despite that feeling that told me to stay I would end up hurt, sick, or just not feeling right in a far away place. Intuition is a weird thing. So I stayed until I knew I was ready to go.
I took me about a month to adjust back to the US. I’ve experienced reverse culture shock a couple of times now and it seems to get worse and worse, but a lot more interesting, the more I travel. I always swing around though, and everything I’ve learned really sinks in when it’s contrasted with where I was before. The funny thing about cultural adjustment is that is has the same curves coming back home as it does going abroad.
The first thing I noticed is how LOUD we are here! Everyone has something to say and something to be heard. That’s our culture. At the LAX airport I was so overwhelmed by the volume of everyone I felt like I couldn’t even see straight. I actually missed a connecting flight to Phoenix because I felt so out of place, in my own country!! But there was this simple relief of everyone speaking the same language as me, the signs are in English and I could shift into auto-pilot here and there. Then, of course, I was shocked by the food. The price of it and the quality of it. I knew with my budget there would be no way for me to continue to eat as clean as I was in SE Asia, which is just an unfortunate truth about the US. Socially, I was taken back by how much we discussed our careers and money in such a casual way. Most of the time the first thing you’ll learn about someone in the US is “what do you do?”. I haven’t had a conversation about my career in months. I didn’t even know how to answer this question. “I’m a teacher, well not right now, I’m traveling, no I don’t get paid to travel, I’m doing it because I like to and it teaches me a lot…”. I felt like I had to prove that this is worthwhile even though it’s not profitable. I could go into more and more about where I think the US doesn’t exactly have their values aligned and how obvious it was to me that consumer culture has seeped into the most vulnerable and precious parts of our lives, but I’ll save you the depressing synopsis and share the little treasures I found coming home with new eyes.
The Midwest is a special place. It gets a bad rep from time to time but I’m telling you there is no place like Minnesota. Being able to call this place home, to leave it and return to it multiple times with hugs goodbye and open arms to welcome me back every time might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.
I was a little worried that the places and people would change, but it turns out we pick up right where we left off. There was a little bit of catching up to do but within minutes of reuniting with my friends, neighbors and family, I felt like I was here last week.
I picked up my old greenhouse job, I tutored for a family to prepare their kids for first grade and kindergarten, I gardened for some lovely people that needed an extra hand and my most favorite new endeavor was teaching yoga at the greenhouse. I got to share this practice that I learned so much about in India with my community and that was the greatest gift to me. I got to work. That’s what we do here, work hard for what we want in life. It can be masked my profit but if you ask anyone with a heart why they do what they do, they’ll tell you its for a reason bigger than themselves. The best parts of our country reflect that, you’ll find it to be the most true in these small, middle class towns. That’s a definition of the US that I accept.
I think deep down I knew I needed to come home and be with my people for a minute. It’s hard to connect with home while I’m so far away. Going back to my hometown almost made me feel like I never even left. I could feel that I was different, that all this travel changed me, but I think it really only made me more myself, if that makes sense.
If there is a true purpose for me coming home and staying longer than I anticipated, it would be to spend time with my sister Alison. Ali and I are five years apart, which felt really big when I was younger. She was my baby sister and there were a lot of times that I would need to step into my “Mama Hannah” role. Alison grew up so much while I was overseas, I came back and we could connect like we never have before. We spent every day we could together. We’d drive around in dad’s jeep and scream to our favorite Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan songs on repeat. We’d sing terribly at karaoke together in our local dive bar, take the dog on walks and she’d update me on all the new advancements in space travel she’s been reading into. We had sleepovers and wouldn’t be able to fall asleep because we’re laughing too hard about something so stupid, to wake up and start laughing again about the same thing.
Being around my sister was exactly what I needed after those 7 months of back to back highs while traveling. If you know her you love her and she’s probably one of the funniest people you’ll ever come across. There’s no one like her… and no one humbles me like Ali Cat. Sometimes you need your sister to make fun of you. I’m not that cool and life isn’t so serious.
Coming home was like a deep breath, I got some rest and made some cash. Now I’m ready to get out there again, with Tanzania on the horizon. I’ll tell you my general plan, but I think it can be said that I’m not one to stick to the script.
First stop, Mount Kilimanjaro. I’ve been training the best I can, running around looking for hills to run up and down on, jump roping with my hiking boots on and squatting my booty off. I’ll spend 30 days in Tanzania and make my way over to the Island of Zanzibar. I’ll fly from Zanzibar to Indonesia, maybe spend a couple of months there and head down to Australia/New Zealand. My goal is to have enough money left over to make it to South America in the early spring. If I do, I can confidently say that I’ve backpacked on every inhabited continent on earth, but who knows maybe I’ll bop down to Antarctica.
Being home gave a little bit of time to dig deeper into my purpose with all of this traveling, and I realized how valuable this journey is when it’s shared. If I could inspire even just one other person to do something like this, it would mean everything to me. My goal for my travels moving forward is to share more, connect more and hopefully motivate someone else to step out of the ordinary and everyday comforts on purpose. I’ve been working on a podcast and started some travel coaching services (check out my “Your Turn?” Tab). More on this to come. Thank you for following my journey 2.0, I can feel big things coming. I’ll talk to you all soon, from Tanzania!!! (Btw my iMessage no longer works again, put my number into WhatsApp and we can talk there).
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