What!?! I know, we were supposed to be traveling for another several months, but we're back in San Francisco now. We came back to San Francisco for what was supposed to be a temporary stay to take care of a minor medical issue that was more easily dealt with in the US than China (where we were at the time), but ended up staying because, well life is just like that sometimes. Both of us are fine, happy and healthy so there's nothing to worry about. While we were here, Brian found out about a great job opportunity and it was one of those times when we realized that we just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and so we decided to stay.
Having to do without so many things on our trip, we're really enjoying being home and most of all being able to hang out with our friends and family. We're looking forward to the little things, like having more than two pairs of shoes, cooking, relaxing on sofas that we own, being able to watch Hulu, and coming home to the same place every night. Our apartment karma is really doing its magic as we found our new and surprisingly spacious apartment in record time. I only had to go to 6 soul-crushing open houses, clutching my credit-report and sneering at the 20 other couples who also showed up an hour early, toting their giant pay-stubs from Facebook and Google while I wandered longingly through what was either the cutest apartment I knew I would never get to live in or trying not to brush up against anything in a filthy, cramped apartment with a mini-fridge standing in the corner of what was supposed to be a kitchen and 10-year old carpets that smelled of dog. Mind you all of these apartments are all priced within $200 a month of each other, but that's life in a tight rental market.
So, we still have yet to post our pictures of Beijing, which I will do in the next post. But we also have pictures from a road trip we took to Arizona and Utah while we were trying to decide whether or not to stay, so I will also post those a few days after the Beijing post. And then sadly, I'll probably stop blogging. I've really been enjoying writing about all of the places we visited because it allowed me to relive the most exciting parts of the trip. I'll have to wait and see what other outlets I can find for my writing urges in the future.
We do have little moments occasionally when we miss the traveling life, especially since Brian is now back at work everyday. But we're happy to be home, settling into our new apartment and enjoying being domestic again. And of course we'll continue to travel on our normal-length vacations to all the lovely places we had yet to visit. We'll just be making our way through the list a bit more slowly now. Would we do it all again? Hell yes! And if the opportunity presents itself again, we certainly will.
Having to do without so many things on our trip, we're really enjoying being home and most of all being able to hang out with our friends and family. We're looking forward to the little things, like having more than two pairs of shoes, cooking, relaxing on sofas that we own, being able to watch Hulu, and coming home to the same place every night. Our apartment karma is really doing its magic as we found our new and surprisingly spacious apartment in record time. I only had to go to 6 soul-crushing open houses, clutching my credit-report and sneering at the 20 other couples who also showed up an hour early, toting their giant pay-stubs from Facebook and Google while I wandered longingly through what was either the cutest apartment I knew I would never get to live in or trying not to brush up against anything in a filthy, cramped apartment with a mini-fridge standing in the corner of what was supposed to be a kitchen and 10-year old carpets that smelled of dog. Mind you all of these apartments are all priced within $200 a month of each other, but that's life in a tight rental market.
So, we still have yet to post our pictures of Beijing, which I will do in the next post. But we also have pictures from a road trip we took to Arizona and Utah while we were trying to decide whether or not to stay, so I will also post those a few days after the Beijing post. And then sadly, I'll probably stop blogging. I've really been enjoying writing about all of the places we visited because it allowed me to relive the most exciting parts of the trip. I'll have to wait and see what other outlets I can find for my writing urges in the future.
We do have little moments occasionally when we miss the traveling life, especially since Brian is now back at work everyday. But we're happy to be home, settling into our new apartment and enjoying being domestic again. And of course we'll continue to travel on our normal-length vacations to all the lovely places we had yet to visit. We'll just be making our way through the list a bit more slowly now. Would we do it all again? Hell yes! And if the opportunity presents itself again, we certainly will.