…2018 is (almost) gone.
The past 6 months have been largely focused on transitioning to living in the US again: teaching in the US for the first time, understanding the differences in mentalities, dealing with reverse culture shock (that’ll probably not go away), paying taxes again (YUCK) and not needing to hoard or stock up on anything because Amazon is readily available and Costco is a 10 minute drive from home. We are once again in a place where a car is a must (sigh). And with moving back to the US, the nature of the things we would be able to share in this blog has changed. Nomadicgregors has always been intended as a travel chronicle of the adventures we’ve had abroad, and some of the wonderful things we get to see. As we moved back to the US, our income changed (less disposable income for travel) and we are in a more isolated place (getting to and from Hawaii is far from everywhere). Hawaii is also ridiculously expensive, and so as we’ve settled in we’ve realized opportunities to travel will be far and few in between during our stint here. There are still strikingly beautiful places to be seen in the island of O’ahu, but the reality is, it’s a little over 400 feet, so not exactly vast like, say, the Asian continent.
For a long time, the belief that we have “nothing to share anymore” was part of the reason why this blog was silent. That, combined with the demands of teaching a content area I’m not trained for (again), took its toll. For a little while, I thought about closing the blog altogether, which would probably not be that big of a deal (I can literally name two people that read this, and that’s about it – lol).
In the end, I’ve decided Nomadicgregors will mostly focus on finding ways to feed our wanderlust by exploring Oahu, writing about our favorite places, and how we stay happy in a season of our lives where there will be a significant travel “lull”. In 2019, we will attempt to complete as many hikes in Oahu as possible, starting with this list: To-Hike List 2019 Part 1
Other than a solo trip to the Dominican Republic to take care of some business, read to and hug my mother, we haven’t traveled since we moved to Hawaii. We are tentatively going to Northern California during spring break, but in the meantime, we will direct the energy of this blog to reviewing the places in Honolulu that are keeping us happy, and our favorite nature in Oahu.
To keep up with the more frequent shenanigans, you can follow me on Twitter: @cookingforcalm, and on Instagram: @anamcgregor
Up next: a photo gallery of our favorite Oahu experiences in these 6 months.
Have the best 2019, full of realized dreams, unending kindness, love and light.
Ana