The winds have turned, and the tides are changing. Not only has November brought me freezing Parisian breezes and falling leaves, but also the answer to “what next?"

Come Monday, I’m a working woman again. While my travels continue, my freedom plane has landed.

The past three weeks in Paris was time enough for a metaphorical soft landing, allowing me the time to come down from the highs of the past ten months and get both feet back on the ground. Although slightly bittersweet, I feel like the old me again.

After being gone so long, the concept of coming home is really just a state of mind, and as far as I can tell, I am home. For now that means here in my friend Nico’s cozy one-bedroom flat in the Fifteenth Arrondissement. Thank you Nico for sharing your home and letting me stage my landing here. I couldn’t imagine a better place to be.

From past experience I know all too well the hazards of an emotional crash landing after extended travel. In some ways, leaving home for more than just a couple weeks means leaving home for good, and no matter how hard you try to recreate the vibe you had before you left, everything is different.

Through recent revelations, I’ve noticed a distinctly Buddhist train of thought running through my mind, and either by personal evolution or simply the influence of spending three months in Thailand, I have a newfound trust in the harmony of the universe. It seems that only when you resist the natural flow of being, that you cause problems in your life. Change is inevitable. And whether good or bad, change is what helps us grow.

For me, change means accepting a job that will eventually lead me back to Costa Rica rather than coming “home” to the states. It’s not exactly what I expected when I first set out on this journey, but apparently the universe had other plans.

So wish me luck as I buckle down and ready myself for another round of deadlines, stress and responsibility. The freedom was fun while it lasted.

November 3, 2006