Our couple of weeks in Irvine turned out to be exactly what they needed to be: a reset. We both took care of medical and dental appointments, I had lunch with my mom, we caught up with my stepmom over dinner, and we connected with friends. We also made a few trips to storage, swapped out some gear, and repacked for the next stretch of travel.
After the past several months, being back in Southern California felt strangely ordinary. Hotel breakfasts, happy-hour wine in plastic cups, errands, appointments, storage units. Not exactly Portugal, Greenland, or Iceland.
But maybe that was part of the point. Not every stop needs to be an adventure. Sometimes you come home, take care of the things that need taking care of, see people you care about, reorganize, and get ready to go again.
Everything important checked out well. The bags are repacked. And today, we're moving again.