We made it home! Our trip was a quadruped with quite a bit of distance between the legs making this the giraffe of all trips; the long-necked animal took 44 hours from our apartment in Yinchuan to open arms at baggage claim of DFW. Travel went smoothly and was incredibly low stress as we had so much time between legs that a two plus hour delay only meant we had less time to explore the next airport than the current one.
We flew into Vancouver, Canada from Beijing and had plenty of time before our next flight so we rented a car and drove around the city, drank Starbucks, ate steak, walked along the beach at Stanley Park and enjoyed being off the planes and out of the airports. That was our first time to be in Canada and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. But it did make it hard to go back for round two to Toronto and then down to Dallas.
Now we're in heaven...I mean...at home where the bed is soft, the water is hot (for more than ten minutes), the large refrigerator is full of familiar food, the language is English, and the people are family. I highly recommend living and working abroad for so many different reasons, but the one closest to the surface today is that you get to experience the thrill of coming home, the contentment of the simple pleasures, and the fullness of affection from and for family members.
We may have taken the scenic route home, but the real beauty is at the final destination. It's good to be home.
