Homeward Bound

My last few days in Cambodia were just what I needed to unwind. It was the end of my trip, and the fact that my next flight was going to bring me home, and not to some foreign country blew my mind. But just when I was getting used to the idea, I realized that I didn’t have a Chinese visa!
My original plan was to fly into Shanghai and spend the day at Patrick's house. However, because I didn't have a visa, I couldn't leave the airport. Which wouldn't have been all that bad, if it wasn't a 13 hour lay over.
I sat, I walked, slept and thought... for thirteen hours. I did end up accomplishing a few things that I had always dreamed about doing. I was kicked out of Burger King for sleeping, for example. I also perfected the art of sleeping on airport benches with an armrest every two seats, while holding on to my stuff. So, I suppose I can't call it a complete waste of time.
The worst part of the whole situation was that I was waiting to get on a plane for a 14 hour flight. Luckily, I had a lot to mull over and I spent much of that thirteen hours thinking about my trip, as I tried to digest all of my experiences. What I realized was that in order to fully appreciate my experiences, I needed to talk about them with people who know me. I have changed, but I'm not sure how. And traveling around Asia, volunteering for Global Roots had begun to seem normal to me.
Also, it was apparent to me that the hardest parts of my trip were internal. I was isolated by the language barrier, and so it was easy to slip into the introversion that dominates my personality. I began to ask the answerless questions: What is the solution to the world's problems? How do you acheive peace and happiness for all people? Who am I? And I became obsessed with finding the answers.
It will take me a long time to fully grasp everything that I have seen and done, and I hope that you are around when that happens, because I'm sure there are some very important lessons in there.