Two more friends from home just rolled through for a visit...and what a treat it was. As fun as our time out here on the road has been, very little can beat catching up with friends over a long brunch or dinner. Every time someone visits, it feels like a personal envoy from our homeland has set aside time for classified debriefing. 
This time was a little different, though . . . . and possibly even a little better. Eric and Maggie didn't merely come out for a vacation and throw in a visit to us. They have put together their own version of a "break from the path" and struck out on longer-term odyssey of their own. Both successful professionals, they took a step off the treadmill and have been on the road since this past summer. They started in Turkey, went back to the States for a full two-week stint at Burning Man, decompressed at Lake Tahoe then made their way to Southeast Asia. They arrived in Phnom Penh just in time to celebrate American Thanksgiving with us.
With their visit, it might be the first time Tami and I can include ourselves on our friends' "visitor-on-the-road" list. One thing we found especially nice is that, in the past few months, E & M have covered a lot of the same ground as Tami and I. It was refreshing to get their hometown impressions of experiences we've shared. It's also been encouraging to see how comfortably they seem to have adapted to life on the road and how inspired they seem to be about the things they've seen.
Tami and I know there's a lot of awesomely fun stuff out here. It reinforces our delight, though, to hear the enthusiasm in Eric's voice when he described having a complete stranger in Vietnam hop on the back of his bicycle as Eric pedaled along with the guy on the back while neither could understand the other...but it was all just fine.
Every time we see friends from home Tami and I know we've got a lot to look forward to on our return. We miss everyone a lot. Reconnecting with some of you will have the added laughs of reminiscing over some of the stuff we saw together along the way.
2 comments:
Darrin and Tami,
Thanks for hosting Margaret and Eric over Thanksgiving. As Margaret's Mom I have been linked to your blogs and have enjoyed your postings.hope your travels continue to be interesting.When do you both return to the states?
Hi Peggy... Nice to meet you. Having Margaret and Eric was our pleasure. For ourselves, we're looking at heading back to the States by June-ish of next year. After Cambodia, we're heading back to India. Thanks much for the kind words. - Darin
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