Double Life

I'm still alive. We had a great trip back to the states that included reunions with old friends, delicious meals with the family, a Vermont family reunion on Michael's mother's side, a short trip down to Richmond to meet a good friend's new baby girl, yoga, W & OD trail bike rides, and my brother's birthday. 

Things I didn't miss about the US: traffic, the DC metro's continued unreliability, the 24 sensationalizing hour news cycle, the gigantic portion sizes at most restaurants, having to tip everyone for everything, having to calculate sales tax, the fact that most businesses are part of large chains (at least in the DC area; not as much in Vermont and Richmond), and DC summer humidity. 

Things I was happy to experience again: Obviously it's always great to spend time with friends and family, home-cooked meals (by people other than myself), more-than-reasonable business hours, access to a clothes dryer, a bath tub, driving on the right side of the road, Bon Chon, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Sweet Green, central air, and seeing a bunch of deer during my bike rides.

Things I was happy to experience for the first time: Vermont in summer (including a rare sighting of 3 active barn owls at night), Good restaurants like The Yellow Deli (we have been to the one here in the Blue Mountains, but never to the one in Vermont) and Earl's Kitchen, the Hosteling International in Richmond, Village Yoga in Merrifield, and a Lavender Fog (which is similar to a London Fog). 

Favorite new movies I watched on the plane: The Lobster and Hello, My Name is Doris. Honorable mention goes to The Family Fang.

I had a longer-than-usual layover in LA, which made the trek back feel endless, and I am happy to be adjusting back to life in Sydney now. The cats seem happy we are both back too.