While it has been an incredible year and I have been to and seen so many cool places, I would have never thought I would be happy to be car-less in my hometown for the holidays.
After living in seven states. Road tripping over 4,500 miles, I am tired and ready to plant my feet for a few weeks in the one place I feel I can truly relax.
It is funny how your perspective changes on things, as you grow older (and maybe wiser). I think that the saying absence makes the heart grow fonder is incredibly true and is something I did not realize until this year.
What once felt like a town I couldn’t wait to get out of, now I am running back every few months to the comfort that it provides. From the streets that I know like the back of my hand, to the bed that I slept in growing up. To a grocery store in which I know what every aisle holds. A home cooked meal and the environment where I feel I can finally slow down and just be.
At 17 years old, I couldn’t wait to get out of Ludington to explore and experience all that the world had to offer.
It was a great place to grow up, don’t get me wrong, but I knew there had to be so much more out there than the beach town I had known all of my life.
Even after leaving home, I never felt too far. I was always a drive away should I need to get back which helped me feel secure in the sense that the people and places I consider home, were never too far away.
I am now experiencing what it is like to be away from everything that is familiar and comfortable to me. I don’t even have the luxury to get in the car and be back to Ludington within six hours anymore.
Again, this is all by choice but it has allowed me to have a greater appreciation for the things that I am returning home to.
I look forward to getting on a plane and spending a week with my family, even if does mean braving the airports during the holidays. Or staying for an extended period of time over the summer because there is truly no better place to be than the shores of Lake Michigan in July.
When I arrived to Ludington this summer to spend the greater part of two months with my family, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. This was the most time I had spent at home with my family since being in high school (yikes).
Being home allowed me to reset. Spend time with my family and hometown friends. It was just the break that I needed after traveling for five months. My time at home was time well spent. I was able to enjoy Hamlin Lake, blueberry season, walks on the pier and quality time with my family. The time went by so quickly, as it always does.
It made leaving that much harder when the time came. I honestly don’t know if leaving the ones that you love the most behind ever gets any easier. The greater part of my drive out west consisted of blasting and crying to You’re Gonna Go Far by Noah Kahan. If you know, you know.
I often think about how good the relationships are between myself and my family and friends and how I should want nothing more than to be my best friend’s neighbor and spend Sunday’s helping my parents in the yard. However, at this time, I know that is not where I am supposed to be. This is something that has been extremely hard to come to terms with.
Wanting to be with those that you love but not wanting to be where they are.
Right now.
Someday I hope to be a little closer to home but for now I will continue to appreciate the time that I do have when the stars align and we are in the same place, if only for a weekend.
Turns out traveling is a lot less daunting knowing I always have a place like home, and the people there to return to.
I couldn’t be happier to be home for the holidays!