A Return to Roots


Beautiful, magnificent Eagle Lake - where friends are family. The Cannan Compound - a place where things were simpler and carefree. Where I learned to fish, swim, waterski, run, backcountry ski, and bushwhack. Where I lost my first tooth, had my first kiss, and survived my first heartbreak. Where the beautiful things and the hard things happened.

So many memories and so many mixed emotions that surface. I am not the same person as I was in junior high, high school, or college. It is surreal - like I stepped into the memories of another person. My concept of home has changed and continues to shift. Travel will do that. Travel is transformative. It is why we may feel sad upon returning from a destination vacation or an adventure. We've tried new things; we have an altered mindset.

So here's the thing, this place where I use to feel safe and secure, I now feel lost and lonely. At one point along the way, I realized that the home I grew up in is really not my home anymore. My idea of home has shifted. It's like homesickness with a chasm that cannot be filled.

Exercise: A Return to Your Roots
Similar to the young boy in Catcher in the Rye, go see your home town through a different lens. Retreat to your childhood and see it for the first time.
1. Plan your itinerary. Use travel advisor websites.
2. Book a room.
3. Take historical tours.
4. Visit old and new establishments.
5. Be sure to buy a T-shirt!

Sometimes it takes going back to see and appreciate the full trajectory of your life. And somewhere along the way, it will hit you. You will be able to answer the pondering question, "How much have I grown and changed?"

 My life's lesson: Uncomfortable and unforeseen growing pains do not age out. So live in the here and now, and build your own Homebase. 

From the sweetest spot in my heart to yours, may your home be filled with love and peace,
~Audrey xo

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