After a 9-hour flight with a six-hour jet lag, the airport limo took another hour to reach our home. We had been traveling for 81 days and nearly 30,000 miles. We hadn’t yet fully recovered from the 14-hour flight and the 7 hours of jet lag from flying from Japan four days earlier.
Exhausted and disoriented, we arrived at our new home, which neither of us really knew. We had purchased it just before leaving on this whirlwind tour. We had left in a hurry four months ago. We had loaded the last of Alice’s belongings into boxes only hours before we had left.
As we walked into the house, everything seemed a little off. I don’t remember the place being so clean when we left. Did we move that lamp? Did I leave that light on? That’s not where I left that pile of boxes. There was a clock on the wall that I knew I had never put there. Someone had cleaned our house while we were gone!
After checking in with family, we learned that Alice’s daughter and Alice’s two sisters had spent an entire day cleaning our house as a welcome-home surprise. It was a much-appreciated gift!
We were overcome with gratitude — the scent of a freshly cleaned home wrapped around us. After months of adventure and new experiences, the stillness made us feel at home, even though this had only been our home for a few days.
Our first tasks were unpacking and doing laundry. Alice’s daughter returned her car. (It needed to get some exercise during our long travels.) I increased the charge level in my Tesla. (I had left it at 50% to preserve the battery.)
We had to collect our mail, pay bills, and go grocery shopping. We spent the next four months opening boxes and arranging our furniture to suit our needs.
We put away our suitcases and travel items, but not for long. Our Round-the-World trip was not yet complete. We started in Canada, so we had to return to Canada to complete it.