It’s weird to say “coming home” because I really didn’t have a set location before I left for my 10-month adventure. I was splitting my time between San Diego, Salt Lake City and Buffalo, so being back in one location (Rochester) is new and old at the same.
Regardless, everything felt weird when I first arrived back, and I’m still getting used to some stuff. Like, It feels weird not looking over my shoulder when I speak English in a public place. It’s overwhelming going into the grocery store and choosing 1 of a million cereal options. And, It’s crazy seeing all these “full-figured” blondes. Ah who are we kidding… I guess never realized before how many fat people there are in Upstate New York. Sorry, I’m not sorry, it’s bad.
At the same time, I’m not going to sit here and bash the United States for lacking what Argentina has and vice-versa. Living in Buenos Aires has made me love and appreciate my country so much more. It isn’t better or worse… it’s just very different. Maybe if I lived in a big city it wouldn’t be such a lifestyle change, but I went from one of the biggest cities in South America to a 2-traffic light little village in the suburbs. I’m not complaining, the fresh air feels great and I love being around such good friends and family. It’s wedding season for gosh sakes!
For that reason I’ve been slacking on the hacking since I’ve been back. Every week I’ve had some sort of reunion, bachelor party or wedding that has kept me off my bloggin’ flow. But to be honest, It felt good to step away for a minute. Not worry if I was missing a good story or photo opportunity. At the same time, it reminded me how much I love doing this. So I’m back!
With that in mind here’s where my heads at…
The Blog:
I gotta get into freak mode with the site because there’s a ton of videos and changes I want to make in a short period of time. The plan is to redesign everything by November 1st and roll out a bigger, better, badder Tourist2Townie.com 2.0 “Go Deeper” (working title).
I also want to do a better job of connecting with my fellow travel bloggers who I neglected for most of first half of the Argentina experiment.
The Spanish:
This is the tricky one. The downfall of being home is obviously the fact that I no longer see, speak and hear Spanish everyday, so I have to do everything in my power to stay on it. I’ve decided for the month of September I will schedule classes with myself as the tutor and hold “class” 3 times a week. Hopefully with my trusty Bueno, entonces program, notes from classes at BASP (watch video) and an old high school Spanish book, I should be able to keep it up. Also, I have the ability to talk with some friends back in Argentina on a regular basis so I should be good with the practicing. Just to make sure, I just joined a Spanish Meet Up Group here in Rochester that meets a few times a month. The first time I went they all thought I was from Argentina, so I guess that’s progress.
The Money:
Not having a car is really going to help me stay at home and save money. I’m still working on a few marketing consulting projects so if I stay disciplined I should be able to put away some good money over the next few months. Also, T2T is starting to make some good cash so I’m going to try to optimize that in the redesign. I layout financial forecasts and money needs when I start getting into more detail for the next adventure.
The Mind Set:
Since being home I’ve realized I just lived a year of my life out of 2 suitcases and didn’t miss anything. I have been on a tear this past week gutting everything I don’t need from my bedroom, basement and garage trying to simplify my life.
Someone going through a very similar situation right now is Jason and Aracely and they explain it perfectly in their latest article “Returning Home Culture Shock?”.
Otherwise I’m pretty content for the moment, eating PB&Js like crazy and just enjoying being with friends and family.
The Plan:
Moving forward the plan remains the same: Stay focused on the dream at hand – Become fluent in Spanish, learn a ton about people and marketing, develop new business ideas, travel South America, while constantly living my life to the fullest. Ultimate Aim: Be financially secure and location independent. Simple enough right?
The goal right now is Colombia by New Years and an Argentina trip before hand. I have to figure everything out with timing because I am in a wedding next April in Charlotte, North Carolina and another in July in Park City, Utah. I will have to factor in the need for some serious influx of funds over the next year to accomplish everything I want to.
I really have no idea how this is going to work, but I didn’t know last time either. I just figure where there’s a will, there’s way.
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