So we have been back for about 20 days now... and its already time for a reunion get together. Burgers at Mike's house and an extended hangout with some photos at my place.

It's a bit of a staggered event with a lot of people filtering in all their different memories and stories. We are comfortable with each other, but there is some post trip anxiety in the air. Everyone is getting back to their normal lives, and we wonder what the trip really amounted to.

So we try to figure it out by telling stories, some on the tip of our tongues... others need a jog from a good photo.

It seems like we are all looking for the "big ones". The stories and moments that are shocking or note worthy because of their extreme nature.

This is to be expected, and it has become my typical routine with coworkers to try to give them a glimpse of something that they can't quite handle or figure out so they can be satisifed in knowing how "crazy" it must have been...

Typical Post SuperTirp Conversation

Coworker : "So Shane how was your trip?"

Shane: "I don't really have a good summary statement for you"

Coworker: "Ya, it must have been wild... you probably wish you were still out traveling somewhere...?"

Shane: "No, not really, I am glad to be home actually."

Coworker: "Oh, so what was the craziest thing you ate."

Shane: "Ahhh, I don't quite remember, we ate a lot of kabobs..."

Coworker: "Hmmm, so where you ever scared, did anyone ever try to hurt you..."

Shane: "Uhhh ya, my one friend woke up a couple of times to pickpockets unzipping his sleeping bag to steal from him at night..."

Coworker: "Wow, thats nutz... hey is this your print out here", looking at the printer

Shane: "Ya, thanks"

Coworker: "So what did you do?"

Shane: "We just let carl go Ape Sh$t on the guy and left it at that."

Coworker: "Hmmm, ya, ok... wow that must have been crazy..."

So all of that is pretty much true, except Carl never really got his glory chance to initiate Ape Poop mode when in the presence of danger. For the most part we took pictures of places that we knew where amazing but could not properly appreciate it... and we hoped a picture would help us then and later. Then we would sit on a train for a long time and talk about God and whether or not you could know anything for sure about Him, or what if its all a sham... and all these abandoned churches we see are just evidence of something that we should have let go of a long time ago. These are the conversations we found ourselves in the middle of, and the trip formed the context for them to come out... that's not all it is... but its a piece that is valuable to me... maybe we will get a chance to share that story too.

Regardless, I am glad to see these fellow travelers again... the travel bonds go deep, usually depending on how much time we spent with each other and how much we enjoyed and suffered together... its going to take a lifetime of reunions to unpack it all.

See you all at the 40 day reunion...

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