Val and her cat at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave.

A going away party in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I’m sitting at BKK and have started and stopped writing this post about ten times.

I’m not sure what I want to say. Maybe because I’m not sure how, exactly, I feel right now.

I’ve been traveling for the past fifteen months. And, today, I go home.

It simultaneously feels like decades since I’ve seen Chicago, and like I was just there yesterday.


Two weeks before I left on this ’round the world trip I wrote an article for Meet, Plan, Go! (the company I now work for). Sherry emailed me the link on my last day and asked me to re-read it and see how far I’ve come.

What really stuck out to me though was how I felt, because it’s the same way I feel now: It’s not me who is going home. I am watching someone else go home.

Sure I cried at the karaoke bar last night. Sure I cried on and off all morning, saying goodbyes to friends, saying goodbye to my precious kitten while for some reason singing to him “there are no cats in America.”

Val and her cat at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

But It doesn’t feel like anything is changing. But it also feels like everything is changing.

The idea of Chicago right now is so surreal. On one hand it’s familiar, on another strange. I am excited to go back. I want to see my nephews. I want to see my friends. I want to eat at all the restaurants I’ve never been to and do all the things there I’ve never done. It’s also helped me that Sean will be there, and it will be nice to have someone there who I met on my travels, someone who is new to the city and may want to do more exploring than anyone else I know.

And I plan to spend my two months there doing things off my life list and in my life that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m signing up for guitar lessons. I’m going to go to the top of the Hancock tower. I’m going to eat massive amounts of pizza.

But, at the same time, I’m sad.

I’ve been in Asia since November of last year. I’ve been here nearly eleven months. I love it here. And now I’m going back to a world where I can flush my toilet paper and take a shower without the fear of getting electrocuted and where pad thai costs eight dollars instead of one.

Other than a few day detour to Bangkok, I’d spent the last month in Chiang Mai. Part of me had thought I should do something epic, go somewhere new, lay on a beach and tan. But, when I got back I didn’t have a desire to leave. The city, and my hostel there, have become a home away from home.

And I will miss everyone there dearly. I could have stayed for much longer. But I also felt like I was getting too complacent in Thailand.

I didn’t leave home to find home, I left home to see the world. And I need to make myself change course and find a new adventure. I need to get out of Asia and see Latin America.

I need to. For me.


Because, truthfully, I still have no idea what I want from this world. And I hope that some day it will all click, come together.

What I do know is that I miss everyone from home. And I do know I will miss everyone in Chiang Mai.

But, for now, I’ll say goodbye to Thailand, to my hostel, to my friends, to my family. And I’ll say hello to Chicago, to my apartment, to my friends, to my family.

See you again soon.

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Val's going away party at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hi, I'm Val. I spent most of my 20s in a standstill, unable to pick which path in life I wanted to take. I wanted the nomadic life of a traveler but also wanted the husband, the condo, and the kitten. Unable to decide which life I wanted more, I did nothing. When I turned 30 I’d had enough of putting my life on hold and decided to start “choosing my figs.” So, I quit my job, bought a one-way ticket to Europe, and traveled for three years. Now I'm back in Chicago, decorating my apartment in all the teal, petting my cats, and planning my next adventure.

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4 Comments
  • Simo
    October 7, 2012at6:35 pm

    I can totally understand why you fell in love with Chiang Mai and Deejai’s… I have so many good memories from the week I spent there let alone the memories you must have after your time there….

    Your next adventure awaits Val….

  • Erik
    October 14, 2012at7:10 pm

    It’s been a real pleasure being able to follow your journey. Best of luck on the readjustment, looking forward to some great things from you in the future!

  • Sherry Ott
    October 17, 2012at8:40 am

    Lovely post – you do a lovely job writing about confusion – eloquently put.
    And I LOVE the photo of the three guys at the bar, one lighting a cigarette and one taking a drink…

  • Kelly
    October 18, 2012at2:49 pm

    Best of luck to you with your reentry!

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