– No more space in your passport
– Your clothes fall apart despite all the repairs
– Your bank cards stop working as the magnetic strip is in pieces and even Sellotape can’t help
– Everything in your first aid kit is going out of date
– The computer’s hard disk has no space for more photos.
– Some pesky mortgage agreement says you can only rent for 2 years
– You wonder what ‘real life’ is like back at home?
– The kids can’t remember much about ‘real life’ at home
– You can’t face another restaurant meal and drool at the thought of home cooked food and roast dinners
– You can drink tap water at home, or I hope you still can?
– You don’t have to remember to carry loo roll in your pocket at home
– You wonder what it’s like not to be viewed as a two leg ATM?
– You stop bothering to learn more than a few words of a new country’s language
– Hand washing clothes has lost its practical and virtuous appeal
– You have serious suspicions that the kids are going feral
– In England I won’t be tempted to try another Ayurvedic massage on the basis it can’t be as bad as the last one
– You can go wild swimming at home without worrying about piranha, dead bodies or alligators (only the cold will kill you)
– At home wine comes in more varieties than white or red
– Much that you feel blessed that over 2 years of minimal seat belts, beer swilling Peruvian bus drivers, Sri Lankan suicide driving etc. to have only two minor accidents that your luck can’t hold forever.
– After 24/7/365 for two years with the kidz some quiet alone time is tempting
– The kids will kill you if you say ‘we are only doing one more year’
– Imagine wearing jeans and other ‘heavy’ clothes
– Mouldy blue cheese at home is a good thing
– Your son keeps getting mistaken for a girl as he is not cutting his hair until he gets home
– Imagine a country without rabies, malaria, dengue or obscure tropical diseases it takes 5 doctors to diagnose? That’s home.
– You feel you should at least give the kids an opportunity of a ‘proper’ education, even if you secretly and selfishly hope they twist your arm into a few more years on the road once they experience a classroom again
– You sit in hotel rooms, watch mindless TV and order room service rather than explore the latest city
– You look forward to having guests rather than being a guest (that’s an invitation by the way to all our travelling friends, perhaps we can live vicariously through you?)
– You want to find out if ‘travel’ has truly changed you or if you are still middle aged with creaking joints and greying hair?
– You like a challenge and doing something different…
Just 44 hours to go until we land at LHR!
Ben
Lara
Martin Clark
Mo
Zoe
The Clark Family's Amazing Adventures 
Aug 08, 2014 @ 14:49:52
Wow – I got goose bump reading it! I was stumbling across your blog while we were travelling as well last year… So impressive your two year travels with the whole family – what an incredible experience! Thanks for sharing! I hope we will be able to do that too in a few years time. All the very best back home in the UK. Liebe Grüsse from a reader in Switzerland, Lorena
Aug 08, 2014 @ 14:54:23
Hi Lorena, lovely to hear from you! Sounds like you already have had a few adventures yourself but my German is a bit rusty to read much on your blog. Make sure you do that trip!
Aug 08, 2014 @ 16:10:02
Can’t wait to see you guys, and to see if you will be prowling your home like a caged tiger!
Keep the faith!!!
Aug 08, 2014 @ 16:43:09
It will be good to be back, I think?!?
Aug 08, 2014 @ 16:35:28
Hard to believe this is kinda the last blog post from your incredible journey. Have a safe trip home! Hope to see you again – in England or Germany or wherever 😉
Aug 08, 2014 @ 16:44:37
Don’t worry we are months behind, a few more posts to go. Not to mention other adventure being planned. See you soon!
Aug 09, 2014 @ 03:12:56
Too, too funny and too too true (especially re: hand washing clothes!) I could have written this post on our last leg home after our around-the-world adventure… problem is, all the negatives of travel fade into a distant memory within nanoseconds, and you find yourself wishing you could jet out on another adventure!
Aug 09, 2014 @ 04:42:33
I am sure Gloria. Not really down on the travel just feels right going home, especially for the kids.
Aug 09, 2014 @ 07:18:37
I hear you on that… our three kids were (and are) happy to be home. It’s just my husband and I who wish the adventure wasn’t over!
Aug 09, 2014 @ 06:34:04
Looking forward to catching up with you.
Aug 09, 2014 @ 06:41:55
No whisky for 2 year! Are you south anytime soon?
Aug 09, 2014 @ 10:32:01
In addition to blog updates backlog…I look forward to hearing your experiences on readjusting to UK life
You already have future plans??????????
There is no stopping the Clark family!!!!!!!
Aug 09, 2014 @ 10:38:25
Well Mike, we were thinking of a couple if weeks at home first 🙂
Aug 10, 2014 @ 14:06:18
I love this list…it’s all so true! You’re only missing “good coffee!” 🙂 Our re-entry was a piece of cake because we were so ready…sounds like you guys are there as well. Wishing you the very best and looking forward to reading your thoughts on the re-entry and impact of the trip once you, Mo and the kids have adjustment time.
May 07, 2015 @ 00:05:48
Remember when Dorothy was in Oz, tapped her heels together? “There is no place like home”. There really isn’t.
So glad for you, that you had such an amazing, life-changing, loving family adventure and returned safely home.