Sunday was depressing. We left Edinburgh by train for London, which was a telling sign that the adventure was over. The train was subdued, and if it hadn’t for the funny little gentleman – he was roughly 3 – across the table from us with his mom, it likely would’ve been most silent for almost five hours. Not totally true, Stretch took this opportunity to drop his signature “The vacation is over!” Not a great feeling, but not wrong either.

Arriving back in London, everything looked different. Still old and still driving on the wrong side of the road, but more people. But with the warmer temperatures and bright sun there were a ton of people out, and dressed as though it was summer. Sunglasses and shorts were a good plan by us, even if we looked out of place in Edinburgh.

We dropped our things at our hotel, selected adjacent to Paddington Station for an easy morning departure, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed out into the city. We decided a walk through Hyde Park was a must, and found a shaded bench to watch what seemed like all of London passing by. Stretch worked to fit in by “letting the dogs breathe.”

Tired, both from the early starting travels of the last couple days, and perhaps a bit of vacation let down, we called it an early evening and headed back to the hotel to repack and get some sleep.

The night before the trek home, I always find myself reflective. This was no different. The ability to experience a new place and a new culture, to learn about the history of the place, and to be able to experience it in a way that is real is remarkably restorative. Our lives so easily get lost in the day to day and the pressures of life and work. This was definitely a needed trip. The hiking was great, exploring Edinburgh was awesome, and time with Stretch made it all even better. It felt longer than it was and it wasn’t easy; two of my favorite things for any trip.

Looking forward to putting a long travel day behind me, and getting back to normal life. Maybe if I’d known how this was going to feel, I wouldn’t have been so dismissive of history classes, and perhaps that degree in Anthropology would’ve made sense. But I have nothing to complain about, life is great.

Gotta run, we have flights to catch.