Jim and I sat down to try to figure out when the last time we had three full months without a single trip. A single night slept in a bed that wasn’t our own. Even while I was getting radiation, we still managed a trip to the Space Coast to watch a rocket launch and a visit to an alpaca farm when my friend Sarah came to visit. We figure that it’s been at least since 2000. At least 22 years ago. Since I'm only 29, that is practically a lifetime!

Realizing that, it now makes sense that I've been starting to feel a little ansy. Feeling ready for a change of scenery. To really appreciate having a wonderfully, plush, comfy bed, you have to sleep in another bed every once in awhile!

Fortunate for us, we have a trip to Switzerland coming up! Oh to adventure again! And with the dollar so strong!

What have I learned after three months in South Africa besides that it is entirely too long for me to be in one place?

Lesson 1: Time

Time means something different here. Or even schedules.

For a Type A-ish personality, and both of us “J” on the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator*, it's a lesson in going with the flow, letting go of the plan in your head, and embracing the looseness of time here. Some days we’re more successful than others with that, but usually one of us can keep our heads straight.

When everyone is so nice and kind, it's hard to be too irritated! But if someone says they'll be by “Just Now,” I now know that I should probably call someone else to do what needs done!

Lesson 2: I could watch animals all day long

Most days I don't get nearly the amount of things done that I plan to get done. My to-do list is more of a let's-see-what-we-might-get-done-today list. Somehow the days fly by and I can't figure out where the time went. I manage 30-60 minutes of language lessons each morning when I first get up and from there the day begins to meander and take shape on its own. Runs are dictated by lion sightings and temperatures (how is it already 100 some days—it's not even spring yet?), walks are taken around deliveries and contractors, unscheduled visits/last minute visits with neighbors and friends consume countless minutes and even hours. Of course, being the extrovert that I am, I love the visits.

There’s something I just love about sitting down in the backyard and visiting with friends while we enjoy delicious baked goods and watch the animals come eat, play, and sleep in the backyard. Of course, it gives me an excuse to bake too! But I find everytime I sit down in the boma to journal, read, or any other task, I'm distracted by animals visiting. We have our regulars: the zebs, the kudu, the warthogs, etc. But even the regulars surprise us with their behavior. For example, for three months I've been feeding eggs to the mongooses during the days and bananas and yogurt to the bushbabies in the evening. In all that time, I had never seen a mongoose climb a tree… until a few days ago. It was dusk and we had just put out bananas and yogurt on the bushbaby feeding platforms (or as I like to call them, ‘restaurants’) when we heard the mongooses coming through the bush. It's hard to mistake the sound of thirty mongooses. They make quite a racket chattering, chirping, and squeaking. We had never seen them come through at night, though, and we were in for quite the show when they started climbing up one of the trees to steal the yogurt cup and bananas. They only climbed the one tree and hung out for maybe fifteen minutes before heading off to hunt somewhere else. But it was a sight we certainly had never seen before! So, no matter what I plan on doing… somehow I end up watching animals instead!

With sights like this, you can see why I get nothing done!

Lesson 3: Time Zones make staying in touch hard. So Hard.

I miss my friends and family when I'm traveling, but I can usually stay pretty connected via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, texts, and calls—even an occasional email. But I'm finding the eight-hour time difference between South Africa and Denver makes it hard to connect frequently with phone calls. I'm much more of a morning person than an evening person (Great Day for UP!). I like to be settled and relaxing by 8pm every night so I can be asleep by 9:30. This isn’t a problem for texting/messaging since those don’t need to happen in real time, but for phone calls… not so easy.

Since we’ve been traveling for three years, I thought I had worked through time differences. It was different when we were nomads though and bouncing between time zones. I might go a few months on the other side of the world, but that would balance with months where I was only a hour or two off.

My solution? I've started setting 3pm-6pm aside to chat with friends and family (7am-10am Denver time; 9-noon eastern). I'm fortunate that many of my friends have pretty flexible work schedules and can accommodate my weird availability! I'm all for meeting new people and developing new friendships, but I think it’s important to honor the existing friendships I have. In order for friendships to survive the distance, they need a bit more effort and a bit more love and attention.

As the sun sets in South Africa, most of my friends in the US are just getting up.

*Jim is a very strong INTJ where I am an ExFJ with an exceptionally strong F. I used to think I was exceptionally extroverted until I realized I had surrounded myself with introverts! As an ExFJ, I'm “Actively sociable. Warm. Harmonizer. Caring. Enthusiastic. Empathic. People-oriented. Practical. Responsible. Concrete. Orderly. Conscientious. Cooperative. Appreciative. Loyal.” As an INTJ, Jim is “Vision oriented. Quietly innovative. Insightful. Conceptual. Logical. Seeks understanding. Critical. Decisive. Independent. Determined. Pursues competence, improvement.” Opposite attract, right?

Here's what we've been up to in the last few weeks in pictures!