withdrawal [with-draw-uh l] (haha Chef, you totally called it!)
detachment, as from social or emotional involvement; a removal from a place or position of something that has been deposited; the physiological and mental readjustment that accompanies such discontinuation
Synonyms include: abandonement, departure, disengagement, relinquishment

It’s my 4th day of work since getting back and, as expected, I’m experiencing what can only be described as withdrawal. I went to work the very next day after my arrival (call me crazy – hee hee hee! Crazy Crew ode), but truth be told, I was full of energy. I was sad to have had to leave the beauty of Europe and the opportunity to be completely relaxed (even in the face of cancelled flights and impromptu train rides), but I was also ecstatic to be home. No matter how often or how far one travels, there’s always a sense of comfort and peace when you come home to what’s familiar.

But, I had to move cubicles (from the 1st to the 2nd floor), which hasn’t made the homecoming much easier since the familiar is now a bit estranged here at work and I miss being in Italy more than ever. I’ve been looking at some of our 8,000 pictures since I got back; and listening to the soundtrack that defined our 2 weeks in Switzerland and Italy has taken me past nostalgia, straight into longing, yearning.

The temptation to wallow in what was, albeit for a short time, is ever present. That’s always the drawback with coming home from such a memorable experience – sometimes you wish you could live in it forever. But then I came across this quote by Miriam Beard, “Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."

What I would give to see Lake Lugano from the top of a Swiss castle…

…or write in my journal in the middle of Piazza di San Marco in Venice…
…or feel like I’m floating above Florence as I stand on top of the Duomo…

…maybe take a walk towards the coliseum in Rome.

These are instances in life that would be great to re-live, but what makes them special in the first place is the uniqueness of their timing and the amount of wonder and love that I’ve taken from them to enhance the blessed life that I already have.

(Photos by Cile, Seong, Pat, Kay and me. Can't remember who took what but GRAZIE!!)