Coming Home After Over Two Years on the Road: Reflections, Reality & Reverse Culture Shock
- Suzie Prevett
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
I thought coming home would feel easy. After all, it’s familiar, right? But after two years on the road, normal life felt anything but normal!
This is about the end of our adventure, preparing for the Overland Event, and a few reflections on what it’s like to return home after over two years on the road with nothing but motorbikes and a few bags. The ultimate minimalist life!
I’m actually glad it’s taken me this long, six years, to be exact (yikes, I know!), to finish writing these blogs about our South American travels. It’s given me the chance to revisit so many places in my memories and keep the adventure alive. It’s also allowed me to delay writing this particular blog, the one about coming home. I thought that by now, I’d have “fully settled” back into normal life, but for some, it seems to be more challenging than you might think. Neither Kelvin nor I have felt completely "settled" since. Evidently, travel like this can change us in a way that's hard to necessarily put a finger on.
For an 'Adventure Rider Radio' Podcast about us and our travels click HERE
(Even if you don't want to listen to us, this is a great podcast with so many episodes to inspire, get tips and just hear great motorcycle travel stories of all different kinds!)
The End of the Road
Our original plan was to travel until the end of September 2019, leaving a little money to cushion the transition back to reality. However, life had other ideas. Kelvin had to return home twice to see his mum due to her health issues, and between my bike breakdowns and Kelvin’s bike frame falling apart (not cheap fixes when all added together!), our savings dwindled.
By the time we landed in the UK in the early hours of August 1st, we had virtually no money left. To make matters more interesting, we couldn’t move back into our house until October and couldn’t return to work until then either. Saying all that, we realise how very fortunate we were, and are, to be able to travel at all, and it's something we'll be eternally grateful for.
Thankfully, our workplaces had granted us "extended unpaid leave" for the duration of our travels, so at least we had jobs to go back to. Even more thankfully, Kelvin’s parents welcomed us into their home for two months. Those weeks gave us time to help them prepare their house for sale, do countless tip runs, and help them find a suitable apartment with care support available. It felt good we could contribute somehow and “earn our keep.”
A Lifeline: The Overland Event
In the midst of all this, we had the Overland Event to prepare for...our lifeline! We’re not natural presenters (especially me!), but we wanted to give something back. Back in 2016, attending this event inspired us to take the leap, and now we had the chance to inspire others.
We were also asked to present and display our bikes in the Travel Bike tent. The biggest bonus? It gave us a focus and a chance to talk about our travels with people who genuinely cared. Plus, we could soak up fresh inspiration for future adventures; a win-win! My brother was also going to come along, so a nice reunion to.
The Hardest Part: Coming Home
I won’t lie, the return hit me harder than I ever imagined. Settling into Colombia two years earlier, a developing country many had warned us about, took all of five minutes. Coming home? A completely different kettle of fish.
I felt the inevitable end creeping in more than a month before we left South America, and that feeling only grew. Writing the Buenos Aires blog and this one brings back those memories. Organising the trip home, planning our low-key wedding and party, attending a friend's wedding in Italy, and prepping for the Overland Event helped a lot, but I was battling the most intense, relentless anxiety I’d ever experienced, it was strange; sleepless nights, full-body sweats, a bizarre sense of fear with no clear cause. It took every ounce of my being to “act normal,” especially when back 'home', my appetite vanished (very unlike me!). It felt like my body was about to implode, or explode...who knows?!
A patient at work once told me before we set off, “Whatever you’re trying to escape will be here when you get back.” We didn’t actually set off to "escape" as such, primarily we just wanted to explore different countries, see what it was like to live off a bike for an extended period of time, and meet people living very different lives...and that's what we did.
We came home more appreciative of what we have and more convinced that humans are fundamentally good. Kelvin always says, “It restored my faith in humanity.” One thing is for certain, it's a very freeing feeling to being on a motorcycle, in a different country, without your worldly posessions and general day to day modern world stresses. It can definitely make you feel lighter in many ways.
Why We Travel
Yes, there was an element of escapism in our desire to travel long-term, but it wasn’t the crux of it, as discussed above. If just escaping was the goal, we could have rented cheap apartments in low-cost countries and stayed put for long periods, but that wasn’t for us. Exploring by bike is something else entirely; raw, vulnerable, and hard to explain until you’ve lived it. Those of you who have, you know I'm sure.
Having an outlet helps with the reverse culture shock and the transition back to “normal.” For us, our (very behind) blog, the Overland Event (and more so its people), and having each other was invaluable. I know many people who prefer solo travel, but for us, sharing the experience was so important, especially in this phase of the journey.
Back to Reality
August was all about buses and trains, and thankfully, we were near a train station. Then, after a few weeks, Kelvin’s parents gave us an early wedding gift: a pre-loved Citroën Berlingo. A lifesaver! It meant we could tow our bikes to the Overland Event if needed. After two years abroad, the bikes needed MOTs, and while Kelvin’s passed, mine didn’t even get to the MOT station due to time constraints. Cue another mini-project; getting the trailer roadworthy and fitting a towbar to the Berlingo in a very short space of time.
I won’t bore you with the details, but I will say this, when we finally arrived at the Overland Event, it felt more like coming home. I felt I could breathe again. Despite a near panic moment for me before a Q&A panel on a brightly lit stage, we did ok on the presenting front, and even got a few laughs...phew! The best part? Talking to others, listening to their stories, and sharing ours.
Final Thoughts
Travel can be tough, but oh-so rewarding. Coming home can be tougher (for some), but don’t let that put you off. Surround yourself with like-minded people, find an outlet, and it helps loads. Even on smaller adventures, which is generally our thing now, it can still feel odd coming home, but trust me, it’s worth it! If you get the opportunity, do it, and that can be anything from exploring what's on your own doorstep, more of the country you live in or further afield. Whether it's a day, a weekend, a fortnight, a year...whatever's doable, if you can create the opportunity, do it!
Happy Travels!
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