The Best of Thorn Tree

I was wondering if anyone out there who has travelled around
and then came back home only to realize away was better? I
am having after trip depression.Is this common? I just can't
be satisfied with my old life , you know? It 's hard when
you have been away and seen all the beautiful things and
then come back and try and pretend that all the things that
were beautiful to you before are beautiful still. That
probably made no sense but if you have been where I have
been and then left the place that you consider ultimat
beauty and peace- aw shit it is really hard.
Talk to me please.

I had the best time of my life backpacking through Nepal,
India and Sri Lanka. But it was to India I returned 4 times
since. Later back in Holland I ended up buying a house
(what the hell did I do that for?) and have what one calls
a "permanent" job. And now I am at home feeling so
miserable, and I just have this overwhelming desire to
leave everything and go again. Only this time, I can't
afford it (yet). I keep wondering what it is, after
backpacking, that makes one want to go and hit the road
again? Not just the thought, but the conviction that it
has to be that way? Not many people around me understand
that (hidden) desire. And I myself have not yet figured
out what is is. One of the most important things I noticed
was that making new friends whilst travelling seemed to be
so much easier than it is at home. Maybe travellers are
just more open to the new and different. Just knowing that
you probably will never meet most people again, makes it
easier to be completely honest and open to them, it takes
away the fear that things will slap back in our face. Why
is it, that one never seems to be able to find at home what
one finds travelling? Besides the beautifull sites and
culture shocks, sunsets, beaches and mountains that are
nothing like one has ever seen before? Has anyone ever
found something "at home" that equals the travelling
experience? Does this one big trip mean we are forever
doomed to travel on? Or does some of you finally settle
down, and how does that make you feel? I would love to
know what fellow-travellers think about it.. Give me a
hint, please.. Is there life after backpacking??

During my years on the road I have often wondered why so few
Americans, in relation to the country's size and wealth,
travel independently in the Third World.
This is not to slag them -- it's an exciting country to
visit and I have lots of American friends.
But I am sure that I meet as many Canadians -- from the same
part of the world, with one-tenth the population and a much
weaker dollar -- on the road as I do Americans. And it
doesn't seem to matter if it's Africa, South America or
Asia -- the ratio stays the same.
There is no question that Americans, like Iranians, are an
ethnocentric people. On top of that, from birth it is
drummed into them that they live in the best country in the
world and all other places pale in comparison. Is this why
Americans don't travel?
What do you think?

Have just returned from a 3 month holiday in asia; am now
back to work and feeling extremely Blah! Cohorts and peers
at my job don't understand and think I'm crazy; am already
planning and researching our next one to the middle east
for next year. Every time I come home from travelling I
feel different like I don't belong and have nothing in
common with others. They listen to a few travel tales and
have a perfunctory glance at our photos and then they have
had enough. (too bad the whole world does not revolve
around travelling!). Anyone else feel as I do? Interested
in hearing how others cope after returning from a journey.