We’ve been back in Canada for two weeks now and, in many ways, our year away already seems like a distant dream. It’s amazing how quickly comfort and familiarity ingrain themselves again. We are enjoying being surrounded by culture we know and understand, are loving catching up with family and friends, and are happily getting back to our regular activities.

But, some days, it seems as though our re-entry into society is delayed…we keep regressing into on-the-road behavior.

  • We want to take our clothes out of the dresser everyday…just to put them back in again.
  • I still think about washing my panties in the sink every couple of days because I forget that I now have enough to last longer than a week.
  • When I open my closet I gravitate to the same three outfits even though I now have a full wardrobe again.
  • I find myself constantly stuffing toilet paper into my pockets in case the next pee break doesn’t have toilet paper.
  • I still hoard plastic bags and napkins…never know when I might need them.
  • We keep wanting to check out the Lonely Planet Canada to plan what to do/where to go the next day.
  • In a public washroom I check the stall first to make sure it’s not a squat…and then I check the seat to make sure that no-one has stood on the seat to use it as a squat.
  • When we go out for dinner we just about choke when the bill comes because we lived for 2 days on that in Vietnam/Bali/Thailand.
  • When walking past fences and walls I hold my breath to avoid the disgusting stink of it being used as a urinal.
  • I have to resist the urge to introduce myself to perfect strangers  explaining where I am from, how long I’ll be here, where I’ve been etc and then ask them for their favorite places and recommendations.
  • We still write every purchase or expense in ‘the book’ to keep track of all the money…seriously…but that is a good habit to keep and we plan on continuing. Never hurts to know where all the money goes.

I’m sure, soon enough, these habits will fade away. Until then they are quirky reminders of the time we spent away.

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