Wanderlust

Wanderlust:  a strong desire to travel.

What about when you leave where you traveled and are sad to go home?  What is that called?

Almost like being homesick for somewhere that’s not your home.

Each time we leave a vacation in South Lake Tahoe to go home, I feel sad.

South Lake Tahoe’s community ranges from hippy, to addictively active, and I can find myself within all areas of that spectrum.

I think both my husband and I secretly regret not moving there when our kids were young enough to have not made the awesome community that we have in our home town.  Each year we go there for a family reunion camping trip, and he and I end up talking about how we could actually live there.  There is no other location we’ve ever said that about.

This trip though, the day before we packed up our campsite to head back home, while sitting on my paddle board floating on the lake, I got sad to the point of tears.  As I looked back towards the shore with the mountains in the background, I got that homesick feeling.

Why was this trip so much harder to come back from?  Just to list a few possibilities:

• An escape from our reality that lately has more challenges than in past years.
• Bike riding to have Rum Runners at the Beacon in Camp Richardson where the leader of the live band introduced himself before playing during our lunch and letting us know that they were about to “fill up our funk cup.”
• Spending each day on the beach watching my kids play, as well as myself playing in the water for hours.
• Mountain bike trails everywhere you look.
• Hiking trails everywhere you look.
• My son’s favorite disc golf course.
• The endless possibilities of opportunities to fill our time.
• Finding even the scene looking out the window from the coffee shop relaxing and not want to leave:

Not sure which one it was, or a combination of all.

I do know it’s the only place my husband and I have talked about wanting to live other than where we do.  I think I felt more sad because as the years go by, my age goes up.  That whole YOLO, well, when you have 3 kids, a husband, and what has become a small petting zoo of a farm in addition to work and friends and family, you don’t just get to pick up and go.

I get worried that the older we get, if we ever get a chance to live there, we may not be able to do all of the wonderful active things that we could at our age now.

Tahoe is a special place.  I’d love to be a part of it daily.  I know as I was sad driving home I should have had the outlook that I am lucky to get to go there at all.  But that little bit of individuality in me that is still left, which has a bit of selfishness in it, wants more.

As I turned up the beginning drum riff of ‘”Hot for Teacher” to the max volume on the drive home, a thought came to my head.   (I got to ride home in my car by myself due to having to drive extra hours to pick up our new puppy.  It was a slice of heaven.)  The thought was, ‘Well, if I have to wait 10 years until even entertaining the possibility of living in Tahoe, I better work on staying in shape in order to still be able to do the things I love about Tahoe in 10 years.’

And, that right there was enough to get me out of my funk.  It didn’t fill my funk cup up.  No, that requires Rum Runners and a cool Motown/60’s/70’s live band while sitting outside with the lake as the backdrop.  Or at the very least, Rum Runners.  But, my funk was lifted.

Then, on to home, where I was happy and grateful for all that I have.  Yet, the thought of Tahoe living still danced through my head often.  And, come to find out, obviously in my husbands head as well, as he told me about how expensive homes are in South Tahoe on Realtor.com.  Oh, I’m sure in 10 years it will be more affordable right?  Ha!

Who knows what life will bring.  Wanderlust may bring me to a day where being homesick for South Lake Tahoe may actually mean being homesick for my actual home.

And here is a moment that was definitely not the reason I was sad to leave Tahoe:

My husband had stitches in his hand and could not empty the trailer.  My one and only time ever.  

There are not enough Clorox Wipes, nor hand sanitizer for the aftermath of this task.

 

Day 40

Well, here I am on day 40 of no migraines.  Good stuff, this 40 days.

Not as good as it would have been if my streak didn’t end on Day 240, but still, 40 is very good.

This time of year, this is a normal sight in my freezer:

It’s how I go on vacation.  Freezing my Anti-Migraine smoothies and taking them with me wherever I go help me stay on track and not to have to prepare them while on a trip.

I have to keep my arsenal of daily supplements and smoothies on track even on vacation. Especially on vacation, because that is where fun foods and drinks happen, which may be enough at times to throw my body into the train of thought of “Oh, things are different, she’s having way too much fun, let’s give her a migraine!”

Wishing you and myself a migraine free summer.

I have at times considered adding vodka to my green anti-migraine smoothie!