Portland, a love letter

We are home, but it is not the home we left and we are not the same people that we were.  Our kids have changed the most.  They grew inches in stature and miles in confidence.  Now that we are back we do have a real, unfettered love for Portland. Having experienced many cities on our travels, Portland does a pretty all right job.  We arrive back to skies white with smoke, blown in from California.  Before traveling, I would have been anxious and worried about this turn of events, but after experiencing the air quality in Vietnam and Cambodia, the orange moon and eerie blanket of white is familiar. Talking on the phone with my friend Erika who spent a year in New Zealand, she said I needed to write down my impressions as I would never be able to see my home through these particular lenses.

Our first impression of Portland, after the orderly and clean experience of the airport, was how quiet it is here.  The silence of our neighborhood is total and I never really appreciated it or noticed it before.  The absence of sound has a weight.  We only realize now that our whole past year has been full of noise, cars honking, people shouting their wares, dogs barking, music from churches and celebrations.  Life in most of the world is loud, constant and unrelenting.

My second impression was how distant people are, separated by cars, space, buildings.  There is a lot of space here.  Walking the aisles of the beautiful grocery stores, the space allowed is luxurious.  We spent the last three months walking on narrow sidewalks, with many others doing the same as part of their daily routine.  Loud rumbling buses sped by, markets where we did our shopping are crowded and intimate, personal space down to a few inches instead of feet.  However, the people that we do speak with here are very nice and helpful, the distance bridged by energetic politeness and thoughtful acceptance.

There are so may Priuses here.  In most of the world we did not see hybrid cars.  It is fun to see Portlanders riding the orange bikes and zipping on electric scooters.  It feels like a giant playground. In fact at times we feel like we are in a simulated environment.

Our landing as been softened as our gracious friend Jamie has welcomed us into her home and we are able to enjoy the very comfortable house that she has created.  We have already been to the Woodstock Library, the art store “You’ve Been Framed” and Higgins Bagels, all much desired destinations that we missed while traveling.

Jack has had epic sleep overs, reconnecting with his friends.  Both Jack and Addie have matured and are pulling away from us.  Addie had a two-day sleep over a day after we returned, which is huge for her.  Both children have learned to identify their fears, face them and go forth.

Our return to Portland makes our travels even more unreal.  I feel that if I had not kept a record in this blog, I would not believe that we had left.  It has been easy to slip back into our Portland life. Our experiences seem so far away and distant.  Our year of travel has both made our world larger and also made it smaller.  Meaning our experience has shown us the different colors and lights of far away lands, and yet now that we have been there, it is easy to imagine going anywhere.

Now our biggest challenge will be to remain.  Rebuild our life here.  We feel the love of friends and family as we reconnect.  We are still traveling, staying in a home of a fellow traveler while she is off discovering Turkey.   We are happy to be home and appreciate the relationships we have here.  Our life here is special and maybe it took jumping ship to truly appreciate the security of the deck.

 

This will be my last post, even though our adventure is not ending.  Thank you to all the family and friends who supported us this year and followed our travels.  We are deeply touched that many took the time to read about our life and cheer us on.  Thank You!   —The Bochners