... and memories of the trip are still as fresh as the first day there.
Thankfully, our group of people has found ways to keep in touch. We have since shared thousands of pictures, three quizzes, pictures of pets at home now reunited with their owners, started a Facebook group, sent postcards and DVDs, not to mention numerous emails back and forth about personal experiences of being reintroduced into our regularly scheduled routines. This team is really one-of-a-kind.
There isn't a day that goes by where I haven't passed by the group photo given to us by Brad and Lena (promptly framed and placed in my living room the day I got back) and felt a bit of nostalgia. For those of us with FOMO, it was the perfect moment; what was so effortlessly and casually taken with the camera ended up becoming one of the more common memories I see on a daily basis.
I do miss it. I miss the people and the friendships the most. I think about the beauty of the mountains, the cottonwood puffs in the air, the freedom of being in the wilderness with no connection to the outside world. It truly epitomized what I've tried to make my mantra: live in the moment.
Coming back, I also realized that friends and relationships cannot be taken for granted. When you live for two and a half weeks in such an intense environment, you cannot help but think about each and every person that has crossed your path back at home. You think about them... miss them... wish they knew how you felt about them... emotions run deep. And hard.
Work was interesting. Some say that the people who got to return to their 9-to-5's right after the trip probably had it easier than those who were on summer vacation or who took personal time off. Honestly - to sit at a desk, trying to catch up on two weeks worth of work was no easy task, especially after doing very physical work for 8 days and coming back to a chair and a desk. Like every rhythm in life, things have since returned to normal, and the routine is back in place. Strange how quickly it (had to) happen, too.
It's good to be back... but it still feels odd to be back... almost like I've returned after disappearing for a while, and life reorganized itself in the meantime. I had to catch up with work, stories, people, connections... everything. I was oblivious to current events and happenings, schedules were nonexistent, and responsibility was all of a sudden back on my shoulders. But the more I reacquaint myself with friends, places, home, it gives me a bit of peace. Things are definitely put in perspective now.
