I woke up this morning to a bright sunshine peaking through the window blinds. I was ready for another relaxing day. I was tired from the long travels we had done the previous day and wanted to stretch my legs. My eyes squinted from the reflection on the white powdery ground. The air was crisp and clear. The familiar tuk-tuk honks and Taxis could not be heard. This place was different from Bangkok, Krabi, Koh Samui and Lao. It was a bit colder, it was a bit quieter and it had a sense of familiarity.

"The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

I was back on the ground in Minnesota.

The white powder was no longer a sandy beach, but some of the remaining snow that had fallen the previous few days. It was cold. It was 90+ degrees when I woke up the previous morning. 24 hours later, 3 flights and a few lost boarding passes, it was now 20 degrees and snow on the ground.

We ended our trip early. Our plan was to come back on March 14th. We came back on the 6th instead (local time). After sitting on the wonderful beaches of Phra Nang Bay and Railay Beach, why would someone come home to freezing cold weather? That's really a question that will haunt me for a long time. More importantly, when will I be able to return? I'm out of vacation, I went over budget and I'm tired. I spent too much time traveling to places I have already been to and didn't find the "adventure" that typically finds me on the road. Travel provides me with new discovery and new experiences. I will have to wait to see where those come from in the future ... and where the next adventure will take me.

This trip was 6 month or more in the planning. We set an agenda, but left things open to change. And change is exactly what we experienced. Travel in SE Asia was not for Chris. More importantly, leaving his wife behind proved to be the element that we least expected to modify our plans. He missed his wife and was never able to emerse himself into the experience because of it. I feel bad for him and hope that a trip like this in the future will bring another type of experience. An experience that includes his true love, his true passion ... his wife. I hope they get a second chance together to enjoy some of the sites that Chris was not able to enjoy. A distraction that big can make travel difficult. Missing home does not allow you to become part of your new environment.

"When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable."
Clifton Paul Fadiman

In the middle of last week I looked Chris in the eyes and asked him if he wanted to be there. No matter how forceful he tried to convince me, the spirit wasn't there. He was not having fun and I was worried that I would continue to struggle as a travel guide -- trying to find a comfort zone where he could relax and begin to enjoy himself. After two weeks we hadn't found that spot. We had changed travel plans more times that we can count to accommodate this goal. It was at that point that we decided it was time to cut the trip short, fly home and give it another try with the missing elements attached.

Thailand and Lao are not for everyone. Traveling is not for everyone. Backpacking is not for everyone. Cheap bungalows and street stall food is not for everyone. Leaving your loved ones behind is hard for EVERYONE. Coping with these changes are what make and break travelers on a daily basis. For some people, a pre-packaged tour of Mexico or Hawaii are exactly what they need to relax. For others, the constant struggle to get from one place to the other is what drives them forward. As Lao Tzu said, "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." I fall within that category.

My travels are not over. My quest to see the temples of Burma are not over. My desire to travel fast and cheap are deep within me. I will continue to meet local people and chat with fellow travelers. I will spread the word of my experience and share with others the stories I have picked up on the road. I may even act as a tour guide again the future.

For now, however, I will need to seek my adventures in a 12x12 cube. Typing away, reading papers, attending meetings. I will need to create a world inside my own country that satisfies my own sense of adventure. I will need to mend fences and lay another plan.