I take my laptop with me on every trip I go on. The reason is because I always think I will update this bloggy thing. I always think I will write a story from the adventure. If you follow this blog, you know I rarely do.

When we travel, routines are different. We spend more time chatting with the friends or family we are visiting. We like touring the sights of the area, and I spend less time writing about it, even though, like I said, I always plan to.

Now we are home and life is back to our normal. The laundry is clean, Peet is purring, Ken is back working on his latest project, and I’m writing about what we bring on a trip, and more so, what we bring home.

Ken and I went to Tucson, AZ and Berkeley, CA on this trip. We had a great time and did not play tourist — we were tourists. We went to a rodeo, saw a parade, visited two or three state parks, saw the desert, ate plenty of desserts, we toured a boat museum and school, we also toured the Bay Model. We hung out with great friends, enjoyed family and we really had a good time .

When we travel, we see cool things and  it’s easy to get into the flavour of the area. When we visit in Hawaii, I tend to think I need to buy a bright and colourful, flowered dress, even though it is not even close to being appropriate for living in BC. When I’m in NYC, I think I must have a pair of Jimmy Choo high heel shoes that I couldn’t wear in real life no matter what, but spending $200. on shoes seems like a good idea at the time. I’ve learned not to fall for the trap and know I don’t need a souvenir to remember the adventure. So it surprised me to realize that while in Tucson, we got into the western spirit of the area and brought home a hat, a rope and some boots.

I tell myself I will wear the hat on sunny days – I may, but it’s a cowboy hat, so I may not. Ken bought the boots and is wearing them now, so that’s good. The rope… well, I have no guess how or why that made it into the suitcase. Perhaps one of us will learn some rope tricks or perhaps it will become part of the decor until the next yard sale.

I am glad we don’t buy souvenirs when we travel. We have no need for t-shirts or fridge magnets. For the most part, we don’t travel to shop; so how the hat, rope and boots made it into our suitcases is as surprising as traveling with the laptop, and not using it.

Now, as we settle back into our routine on Bowen Island again, I can tell you it is good to be home. The sun is out today, so I think I’ll put on my new hat and go for a walk.