What's Next?

    Someone referred to this as a "vision trip" (to check out if we'd want to live in Japan long-term). My mom is terrified that we'll decide to move there permanently.  I reassured her again last night over the phone, "No, Mom, we're not going to move there."  It would be incredibly complicated to relocate there, not to mention the fact that we love our home and church and community and friends here.  And I'm not that proficient at Japanese (yet!).  Moving to Japan in our 40s with 5 kids would not be for the faint of heart.

    And yet...I wonder if this is not a "one and done."  For so long, I had viewed this trip as a once-in-a-lifetime, pinnacle-of-childhood experience.  But I feel like going won't satisfy the itch. In fact, it may increase my wanderlust even more.

    I feel like we will return wanting to travel more. But I'm curious... will we want to do more worldschooling trips to other countries? Or will we want to just keep going back to Japan?  How will I be different when I return?  How will I see the world differently? I remember coming back from a month in Thailand and dealing with "reverse culture shock."

    I remember coming back from an epic Colorado road trip, and our oldest son was a little wistful about the trip being over. But I told him that that there are three parts of a vacation -- before, during, and after. The planning and dreaming and anticipating are fun! And then there's the actual vacation where you're living what you dreamed of. But then there's also the looking back, the reflecting, the perusing through pictures to relive the experience.  

    And with having so many Japanese friends in Lexington, there's been the anticipation beforehand of going -- telling of our plans, hearing their recommendations, getting their advice, and practicing my Japanese. Then during -- I'll get to visit with some of the people I first met here! And then after -- my Japanese will (hopefully) be better, I'll get to share of my experience, we'll have a shared perspective of what Japan is like.  The DURING seems like the highlight, but I'm planning on enjoying every minute of the before, during, and after!

    So, it's impossible to say what's next...because I will be a different person when I ponder that question in 3 months. Stay tuned!

Why...? series