Autumn's thoughts on coming home/being home (Forgot to post a few weeks ago)

Hey guys! Within the first week of being home, we have already visited many friends and they have all talked about how much they like seeing my thoughts. I have been busy, and therefore unable to write on here. However, at the moment I am just chillin' at home, eating good bread, playing with my dog, and drinking the amazing water Lafayette has.

Let's begin with the robbery in France.

I was crushed. My brothers were too. I never cried, just held Bryce's head in my lap for 5 hours in that police station. It was a sad night. The only thing I kept thinking about was how all of my journal entries were gone. I had written 3 pages a night every night of the safari. For the next few days I thought EVERYTHING was ruined. After a week, I was still shaken and uneasy about leaving any of our possessions out of our sight. I was sad about not finishing the trip outside of the US, but at the same time, I was glad to get back to America. America is really cool you guys. Seriously. People need to stop complaining so much about it. Yes, we have our faults, but the rest of the world has problems in their own countries too.

Now to the East coast:

The East coast is very different than the West. The South is also completely different. What I couldn't understand, though, was how scared many Easterners were about living on the West coast because of earthquakes. Major earthquakes are pretty rare, yet the South has had two major hurricanes in the last year, not to mention the humidity they get. I'm happy to live on the West coast. (West coast is the best coast)

Now on to home:

I can't believe it. It seems crazy that we made it through a year. It also seems crazy that a year has passed. Before we left, a year felt like forever. That seemingly foreverness is now over. Strange. It's also weird to me whenever I've hung out with my friends this week. In person! Not over a screen. I've enjoyed it. Lafayette water is amazing. Bay area produce is fantastic. Bread is great. My bed is incredibly comfortable.

Now on to other thoughts:

This may sound cheesy, but home is where my friends and family are. Truly. Home has not really felt as much of "home" as it did before the trip. Part of it might be how different it was when we came back to it than we left it, but it still doesn't feel like as much of an anchor. I realize that home could be anywhere as long as my friends and family were there.

Also:

I have been making google photos albums of my favorite photos that I took of each country. If you would like to see them all, please email me!
tealstar49@gmail.com