It was nearly as much of a surprise to me as I imagine it is to you. Africa had left me deflated, and after two months in Europe trying to shake it off I realized I wasn't going to recapture the energy I had in Latin America and much of Africa. It was time to pack it in... head for home.

The decision came quickly on a particularly dreary day, though I'd been edging closer to it for weeks. In a flurry of decision, from my friend Dick's apartment in Holland, I booked a flight home. It had taken me two years to plan this trip, and I'd been gone fourteen months. I ended it in about five minutes. I'd planned for every possibility except this one: my money outlasted my will to travel.

"Paula Zahn was interviewing somebody about Janet Jackson's nipple."
My friend Ryan from home came over to Holland for a visit and we had a great time seeing Utrecht and Amsterdam. It was great to see him, but the same day he got on a plane home, I did too. After an overnight in London and seven hours in a nearly empty British Airways flight, I landed in Newark. Yes, sadly, my first stop was Newark. As I made my way to immigration there was a TV tuned to CNN. Paula Zahn was interviewing somebody about Janet Jackson's nipple. Welcome home.

I caught an Amtrak down to Washington and met Ryan, the same friend I'd said bye to in Utrecht just a couple of days earlier. It was the middle of the night and freezing cold in the Capital, but that was to change in a matter of hours. I slept off the jet lag and woke to sunny skies and unseasonably warm weather. For the first time in over a year I was home. As Ronald Reagan and Hal Riney said in 1984 political commercials, "It's morning in America." My adventure hadn't ended, so much as entered another chapter.

"Often I still feel like I'm in a foreign country."
But before I get too warm and fuzzy, being home isn't how I expected. Somehow I thought it would feel comfier and more familiar than it does. Turns out it just feels like another strange stop on a strange trip. Amazingly large automobiles and some amazingly large people. (Though don't let the Europeans tell you they're not getting fat too.) I hear more Spanish than when I left, and less real news on TV. Often I still feel like I'm in a foreign country. It will take some getting used to.

I wish I could have done it all in one go. Continue from Holland across Eastern Europe, Russia, the Stans, China and India. I'd set out to do the single grand adventure taking in everything. I regret that I didn't make it, didn't even technically go around the world. (Unless you use the bizarre Steve Fossett hot air baloon definition of "around the world.") But it would have been a waste of time and money. I would never have recaptured the excitement and adventure of the beginning. To continue would have been to trudge wearily across a continent just to say I'd done it. I can always go back someday, and I will, with a new supply of money and a fresh feeling of exploration.

"I'm ready for some stability, predictibility and a source of income."
I actually have a ticket back to Europe. It was cheaper to buy a return ticket than one-way, though I doubt I'll use it. Before long I'll probably be back in a typical job, though that doesn't really scare me anymore. I'm ready for some stability, predictibility and a source of income.

But there's one adventure left. I'm still mulling my plans, but I hope to drive cross-country in the next few weeks. One last grand journey before going back to the real world. I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, so that sounds like a good destination. Maybe even Alaska. I'll keep you posted.

So while this may be the epilogue, it's not quite the end of ThereGoesJohn. It's not yet time for the thank-you's and the reflections and the good-byes. While my destinations in the coming weeks won't be quite so exotic, I hope you'll continue checking in.