LIFE AFTER LIVING ABROAD.
So, 10 weeks ago I landed in Heathrow and was firmly back on British soil and this evening I got hit with some inspiration to write about how I’ve found moving back so I thought I’d share it with anyone who might be slightly interested (hi, Mum).
I’ve seen a multitude of blog posts writing about the readjustments that have to be made when returning home after travelling, and the majority of them focus on the difficulties of settling back into a ‘normal’ life with a ‘normal’ routine. Now, don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that angle, and there have been things that have taken getting used to again, but on the whole this blog post is going to have a slightly different approach.
Firstly, although what I’m about to write in this post may contradict this statement slightly, I do miss Thailand – or should I say, I miss parts of my time in Thailand (I know I said that my last post would be the final post about the land of smiles and TECHNICALLY, this is about not being there so I didn’t actually lie). Travelling around from north to south (twice) definitely was one of the best things I’ve done in my life so far, but overall, I definitely don’t miss LIVING there. I used to get a lot of comments along the lines of – ‘holy crap, your life is amazing, you live near tropical beaches and have hot weather every day’…. Well, for one, the rainy season lasted for about 7 of the 9 months I spent in Thailand, and two, I’m a very sociable person. I love to interact with people and surround myself with others. There are only so many solo trips to the beach you can do before the novelty wears off and I started to feel pretty isolated. Unless you work in an international school (which I tried and it wasn’t for me), I found even just crossing paths with younger ex-pats a task, let alone crossing paths frequently enough to build a support network. I will be eternally grateful for the few friends I did make whilst living in Phuket because they honestly kept me (semi) sane but I just couldn’t stay somewhere living a life where I felt lonely for the majority of my day. It sounds sad putting it like that, and I don’t think I realised that was the problem until I was removed from the situation, back home and surrounded by my family and friends when it hit me that I didn’t have that in Thailand.
I have to admit, I was absolutely terrified about coming back home and it was one of the reasons I stayed in Thailand for as long as I did. I was convinced that going home wouldn’t fix the problems I was having but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Going home fixed everything that I was struggling with, and almost instantly. The only comparison I had of moving back into my parents was the post uni move that everyone I’ve spoken to struggled with – and I was scared that it was going to be the same. In reality, when I came back after university I was leaving something I really really loved, but moving back from Thailand was moving back from an experience that I was definitely ready to finish, so I was able to appreciate what I actually had back home.
Going to Thailand still stands as the best decision I’ve made so far to date, but a close second is deciding to leave. For quite a while, I thought that going home would be ‘quitting’ or ‘giving up’. In hind sight, the experience had run it’s course and realistically I should have accepted that fact and packed my bags. However, I definitely don’t regret staying those few too many months, because if I hadn’t stayed, I wouldn’t have had the final two weeks of exploring Thailand again, which restored my love for the country a little and gave me memories I won’t be forgetting any time soon.
Side note: (plus an excuse to post really cute pictures) I really do miss my students. Teaching was such an amazing experience and I’m really grateful that I got the chance to work in a government school. International schools are great if you want to earn a serious wage but there is just something really rewarding about teaching kids in state schools. So here are some mega cute pictures of some of my little cherubs who I miss like crazy.
