Gradually, Western life sucked me back in. Coming back from the traveling, I walked around for a time without much in the way of shoes. I'm now quite well shod. Started wearing my watch again. I write in journals less (despite the four posts tonight). Got employed. Then employed better. Then employed better. Just fell into the fanciest new job title yet. Leisurely flipping through the favorable abode rental market. Might even buy a couple Christmas presents. Heck, I'm a consumer again.

Still, some distinct changes remain from the traipsing around I did. Perhaps most notably, I'm still a happy vagabond. Comfortable anywhere. As long as I sport my glasses or a thimble of contact solution, the homebody part of me's dead. Sleeping's easy. All I need's my car. Or a friend's place. And the best sleep I've ever had was on the back Bus office couch near the end of the election cycle. The physical manifestation of making the best of anything that hits you.

I'll sort the 11,000 pictures from that trip. I may not be going on another one for a year or three, but that doesn't mean I can't reap the lessons, smirk at the memories, and start plotting the next intentional meandering. There's a steaming plate of fun to have here in the meantime. And I've been digging in. Apologies for the lack of posts over the last month, folks. I'll do better. Maybe.