I’ve been traveling a lot lately.
I have been traveling, and just came home, and walked in, and it’s joyous. I decided to make a record of how I feel and why I feel that way. It’s important to note that I enjoyed my trips away, and it’s also important to note that I was not especially homesick. Nonetheless, there are certain things that I really enjoy inside these four walls (and nearby) that I just can’t get in the places I’ve been recently, namely, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C..
High speed Internet connectivity.
When I am at home, I’m enveloped in bits, and it feels amazing to be back in that digital bath. Â In the ORD airport, you get 20 minutes free if you sit through an advertisement. Some airports do not have free Internet at all. In the hotels, when you get Internet access for free, which is less and less, it’s spotty at best.
I feel like Internet connectivity is to productivity as water is to the body. I feel like we need to seriously consider some level of high-speed Internet connectivity as a basic human right.
When you don’t have it, you crave it. When crave turns to need, you’re in trouble.
My media collection and services.
Even if I have no Internet at home, which is seldom the case, I have books, movies, TV shows, and lots of other media sources. In fact, with a good Internet connection, I can get to most of them remotely. Away from home, I have none of it. If I’m lucky I can get YouTube or Netflix over the lousy wi-fi. See also point one above.
Chromecast.
If there’s one flaw to a Chromecast, it’s that it will not work if you try to connect to WiFi that has an agreement screen. I really need to invest in a travel router or run OpenWRT on my Raspberry Pi so that I can start bringing my Chromecast with me and using it. But even if I did, I’m sure the media would stutter because of the low-bandwidth in the hotels. Also, as a cable cutter, I’m happy to not watch TV anymore, and this is the one amenity available in every hotel. I’m rather have the ability to just use my Chromecast. You can keep the 40 channels of nothing.
A ‘comfortable’ bed.
Don’t get me wrong, the hotels I have stayed at have had incredibly fluffy, well maintained, 1200 thread sheeted, super soft, and therefore incredibly uncomfortable (to me) beds. The main reason I have a very soft futon is because I sleep especially well on a very soft futon.
I like my 10-year-old pillow, my comforter that’s beyond repair, and the particular distance from the TV to the pillow.
I can’t wait to crash tonight.
Expectable weather.
I never know exactly how to pack for a trip away. It’s hard at the moment because the country is entering Spring, and as a result, it can be 28 degrees in a Chicago morning, and 57 degrees by dinnertime. But I’m not packing a puffy coat for a chance of snow. On the other hand, I was pretty cold walking to work in my hoodie this week. In this part of the world, it’s easy enough to leave your jacket in the car. When I travel, I seldom have a car. I’m glad I don;t have to worry about it for a while.
Local restaurants.
I really enjoyed some of the restaurants I visited while I was traveling, but I’ll never be a regular there. I like having a ‘Cheers’ moment when I walk into a local restaurant like Michael’s in Lawrenceville. In a place where you are generally alone, like we tend to be when we travel, it makes those ‘Cheers’ moments seem far more distant.
Local groceries, a stove, and a full fridge.
Sunday is grocery day in my house. I go to my local farmer’s market, stock up on fruit, veg, and bread, and eat like a king for a week. In 3 out of the 4 recent trips, I walked to the places I was going, or I did not go, and more often than not, the nearest grocery was miles away. The walk there would have been okay, the walk back would have been much harder. In 2 out of the 4 hotels I was at, there was no fridge, and 3 out of the 4 had no stove. The one with the full kitchen was also the one with the grocery within walking distance, luckily. I love to shop for groceries, and I love to cook, but it’s often impossible to do either when you travel.
Local convenience stores.
We absolutely must talk about the difference between the United States’ Eastern coast convenience store, and the rest of the world as two separate categories.
Wawa only exists in 5 states.
7 Eleven is mostly everywhere, but please, don’t try to tell me that the experiences are similar. No QuickChek or Sheetz in most of these places, though San Francisco had some amazing green corner delis.
The rhythm of home.
If I’m away, these days, it’s for business. That usually means a 9-5 job for a few days or a week. I’m grateful for my employers’ generosity, that they would give me such amazing opportunities. But it’s a lot different when I get back to my normal schedule. Part of the reason I was so excited about making consulting my living is that most days I work until 3 am, wake up around 10 am, and work as I please in between. I always make my 8 am meetings, when they are scheduled, but they’re not scheduled everyday, and most people are just as happy to meet at 1 pm as at 7 am. I’m so happy I can get back to the rhythm of this place.
I’m really happy to be home.
I hope this article does not come off as kvetching. I really do not mean it to. I really enjoyed my recent travels, and as I said, I thank my employers for the opportunities and all that goes with them. I just wanted to sing the praises of home a bit. I hope you see some of what you love about home written here, and that it helps you to look around and notice all the nice stuff you have going on. I was taking it for granted, until some travel reminded me of what I love about this place.
