Traveling, as wonderful and exciting as it may be, takes a toll on us. After a while, it seems kind of nice to go home and be boring. Not that boring is a bad thing, when it comes to things we miss when traveling.

The Travelling Companions. 1862, oil on canvas. 65.3 × 78.7 cm (25.7 × 31 in). Augustus Egg (1816-1863)

We can’t help it: we miss things when we’re away – we’re creatures of habit and no matter how nice and relaxing it can be to get away from the familiar and explore the new (or same old place), we still miss a few things about home.

Wikimedia Commons: Pavelblazek, adapted by Wandering Educators

But of course, once you’re home, you start to miss traveling and all the fantastically pleasant oddities that come with it. Isn’t life just ironic like that? Always wanting what you can’t have when you don’t have it, but not wanting what you do have when you have it.

At least in the end for this case of irony, you get some nice stuff when you come home again, because there are things you miss when traveling.

Our beds

Sure, maids can give us daily clean sheets and bed made so tight it’s a human cocoon, but it’s not your bed. There’s something comforting about crawling into your bed with the snowflake sheets and mismatched pillowcase after being away for a while. It’s familiar and it’s not the double bed you’ve been forced to share with your brother; it’s your own.

Der arme Poet. Carl Spitzweg, 1808-1885

Our pillows

Much like our beds, pillows have a familiar comfort to us, so much so that when we lay our heads down on our pillows, it feels like a match made in heaven. Kind of Goldilocks: your pillow is just right; it’s not too soft nor too hard.

Not living out of a suitcase

No matter how much you overpack, you still can’t bring everything with you and it’s nice to have all those options at home. It’s nice to know your clothes aren’t getting wrinkled or trampled with souvenirs, and that they’re not accidently left behind. Everything can return its rightful place.

Photographed at the museum Terug in de Tijd, Horn, The Netherlands. Wikimedia Commons:  Alf van Beem

Not Spending Money

Travel isn’t cheap. For every day you’re away from home, away from work, is another dollar not earned and another dollar spent. While vacations are worth it, there can still be the slight guilt of knowing you’re spending money.

Kulikiv Bazaar with Bagels/  Куликов И.С. Базар с баранками, 1910. Wikimedia Commons: Куликов И. С. (фото Soniaromanoff)

Our routine

On Mondays I watch Dancing With The Stars, but on vacation I have no concept of time, so finding out I missed my show doesn’t make me very happy. Life continues when you’re away from it and while it’s nice in the moment, when you come home, you’ve got a lot of DVR or whatever to catch up on as you settle back into that familiar routine. Hopefully waking up at 6AM comes back easily.

Home Cooked Food

We all love eating out and discovering new places to try, but when 2 of your 3 meals are out, 7 days a week, we start to miss home cooked meals. Whether it’s eating something basic after being so exotic, or not having to sit in a crowded restaurant, we begin to miss what we sometimes consider our rut of food choices.

BBQ Dinner. Wikimedia Commons: Alpha from Melbourne, Australia

Home

Not much needs to be said here; Dorothy taught us all we need to know, “there’s no place like home.”

Portrait of Elbert Hubbard outside his workshop, ca.1900. Wikimedia Commons: California Historical Society

What do you miss when you travel?

Brianna Krueger is the Chief Editor of Wandering Educators