It’s like you are at an airport, moving, going down, going up, looking for passport, and everything and you suddenly find yourself in your house without any movement or hurry. That’s like a big temperature change or like everything was going fast and then you are quiet.

I returned "home" for the first time in 2 years a few days ago...I quickly realised how out of place I felt, how fragile my identity felt after everyone imposing their views of who they thought I was back onto me. The growth and the experiences that shape you during your travels do not stay in those places, you carry them wherever you go within your character. Its hard not to become a product of your environment but ultimately you have the power to choose who you want to be. My advice is to let this experience of being home contrast what you do and dont want in life and to use it as opportunity to show up as the person you know you are.

going through it right now! recently got back from my year on the suitcase. Never experienced such a thing before - absolute numbness & extreme feeling of not belonging in my own home country. Isolation 100000%. And at the same time "over-analyzing" on the next steps (lack of direction). Weird! thank you for this video, at least now I know what's up :)

I just flew home from an amazing trip and can’t stop crying because I just want to go back on holiday and I don’t want to go back to school so thank you

I went abroad for the first time to France, Switzerland, and Germany in September. I have been so empty since returning, which is strange because towards the end of my trip I was homesick a bit, but here I am mourning over what I feel I am losing out on. My eyes have been opened to such beauty, such history, some places so magical beyond description. I miss the exhaustion of endless walking, I miss finding new and interesting things. I miss the strangeness and newness of it all.

i've been living the nomad lifestyle for 5 years now, and i only visit home during the holidays (like right now) once or twice a year. and EVERYTIME i come back home... i go through this. i try to keep myself as occupied as much as possible, gym, meeting friends, etc... i've also tried isolating myself last year i was here and it was okay... but i still felt very much depressed and not "at home." i feel like i've evolved, changed, and gained new perspectives while traveling and whenever i come home.. nothing has changed, friends/family all still very much like how they were before i last saw them. it's almost as if they live in a "bubble"... and i feel like i've escaped that bubble and can't go back in (nor do i ever want to go back in). it's really difficult to describe that feeling but i feel like you'd understand (at least the 4 year ago you that i'm watching right now). not sure if you've seen anthony bourdain documentary but i would totally understand what he's gone through, it's definitely a real struggle. great video, thank you!

“I’ve lost home” I hear you man! I haven’t traveled (much) since February. I relate to that feeling of just wanting to leave and not say goodbye. It’s a bit of escapism for me I think. I dunno. We will figure it out someday I guess. Also I wanted to say I love that KL video! I found your channel last night. So glad I did. Absolutely, love the style of that video! It is exactly what I like. Cinematic with real substance!! Now I will gently smash the like button. ✊🏻

this happen on my trip a couple weeks ago. It felt like I was entering a new life when it was my regular way of living. It effects all of us.

I don't know if you'll read this, but thank you for that video. It makes me feel less alone. I returned home 2 years ago and even after this long time, I wasn't able to overcome my negative feelings of coming home. I feel like I don't belong here and never will. I think it would be different if my relatives and friends were more understanding of what I experienced and if they accepted that I'm a different person now. People here also don't seem to be very happy in my country and they complain all the time about the most minuscule things. Which is crazy to me, considering that I slept in dirt, saw children in the streets, died almost at least one time etc.. It's so surreal. And at home it's hard to socialize on top of that, because people here aren't as open minded unfortunately. My travels entirely changed me and the way I feel about life. I've been through crazy things and overcame many struggles by myself. The things that I saw and felt are things I can never forget. I came to this realization now that I will never be able to fit back in. What hurt me the most is that most people didn't care about my experiences at all. I never talk about it, unless they ask me, just to be clear - I don't want to come across as arrogant, because I'm not. I just feel so different about life in general.

I just got back to the US from a 7 day trip to Japan and I spent only one day with friends.. the time was very short but I am extremely sensitive and I already feel a kind of depression and lost. It’s a loss of identity and I don’t know where I belong. I’ve been sleeping all through the day and feels like I don’t fit in here. I feel isolated and disconnected from my current setting. It feels like part of my heart is still back there. It was only 7 days, but I cannot imagine how I would feel if I had stayed there for longer or lived there. The way I am handling it is by being gentle and meditating and allowing myself to grow. Definitely good advice thanks

I just came back home from traveling and I just want to say thank you for this video. it made me feel less alone with all these feelings I've been feeling since I'm back.

Thanks man. I only went away for two weeks to the U.K., where I lived previously and saw all my friends and my brother, had so much fun in those two weeks. Since I moved to my current country, I did online schooling so don’t have that many people to talk to here and coming back felt like such a isolating and depressing feeling. Appreciate this video. Helps me feel at ease and more accepting.

What you say at 10:14 about not trying to be the person you were in the past...that is what stays with me from this video. It also provides a meaningful thing to reflect on regularly, regardless of whether you have travelled to other places or not. Interesting to see that the person you think you are is a construction, based on subjective narratives and emotional imprints that are largely generated by the mind and its desires for stable identity. i travelled for more than a decade non-stop, and am familiar with the depression of returning to the US (which i still see as one of the most psychologically disturbed cultures on earth) and grieving deeply. the thing is tho...while traveling, i also experienced the ups and downs of life, except the novelty of experience served as stimulation and i could chalk up the challenges to being on an adventure. yet the same thing is possible even if you never step outside your backyard...it is an attitude. whenever an identity gets solidified, along comes the feeling of being trapped and wanting to be somewhere else, to even be someone else. travel is an easy shift to make to temporarily fulfill these desires...and i mean temporarily. because it also becomes an identity in itself. and to my view, the attitudes we carry define our experience much more profoundly than any external condition. there is no home and no refuge in a world of continually changing conditions...there isnt even refuge in one's own identity, which also changes....but the heart, the awareness, and refining attitudes of heart...there is where refuge is found...for me anyway. sometimes it takes traveling around the world to discover this... thanks for sharing. wishing you well.

My dude! You are hitting the nail on the head! Thank you so much for making this video :) all my mates from abroad I accumulated over the last several years just keep on travelling cuz they don't like this feelling or they chose to ignore it. Thank you for this, I feel a bit better because of this :)

Having 2 places I can call home makes it really hard to travel between the two because once I get used to one again going back to the other one feels wrong. When I moved countries I was able to begin a new life and improve myself a bit which was great but when I was back in my country of birth and where most of my family lives ,where I didn’t have the best experiences as a child, and now that I’m older and people have changed I felt good there as I was happy to see my old classmates even though I didn’t really talk to the when we were younger and leaving that hurt so much. Now I just wish that I could bring the two worlds together.

This is great content! It resonated with me unbelievably deeply, thank you!

KL article was awesome...it has depth and voiced out the real screaming souls. Thank u for doing this..

People Not understanding what you experienced and pressing you into your old mold is really exhausting.

Totally feel you. 1:1 same situation and I feel like everything is just a phase. And if you see it like that nothing can stress you out too much. Just making the best decisions in certain situations all in all to not have regrets.

I just hit the road for a month to the USA and got to see my parents whobl left canada. It was my first time leaving canada in 11 years. I saw joshua trees, the grand canyon, zion, the insanity that is LA, the beaches of san diego. I feel like the people i met and my experiences have me in a mindset far removed from everyone here. Its an adjustment. You dont experience that much without having an adjustment afterwards.

I had just over a month away and got back to Sydney 3 days ago. I’m not ok right now but this video really helped. Thank you so so much as your words totally resonated with me. ❤️

Going through that now! 😢 Thanks for the video!

Thanks for sharing your experience

I loooove you know! You just describe almost exactly how I feel

Thank you so much

Hiiii Wojtek! (totally had to dig around to find the spelling of your name haha) I've been meaning to write to you since NZ. It was super lovely connecting with you and Kat. Loving your message and what you're sharing. I haven't been in the exact situation as I don't travel as long term as you do but it's something I've considered. Keep spreading the thoughts and message

Hey man, This for me on a personal level, is one of the best videos I've watched on KZfaq. I'm currently in Perth Australia and have been in Aus since July 2019. I haven't been able to go home because of covid as I have been so fortunate and greatful to work in the mining industry. What scares me the most is that it could almost be 3 years before I even return home because it wouldn't be logical to return home at this time. So when you spoke about going home 2 times and each experience was different, it hit me a little bit that I was going to be experiencing this same feeling but potentially when my journey ends. On another note, I do feel as though my experience in Aus has just become abit "normal" due to travel restrictions and random cases appearing in different states apart of me is not sure if I'm actually looking forward to coming home for some stability.

When I was watching this video it seemed you were reading my mind. I exactly know what you mean👍👍🌹

This makes me feel better about my ambivalence. There is so much reverse culture shock, even despite being aware of the phenomenon and trying to prepare for it.

prepared for this shit, but it just hits so hard

Tolles und interessantes Video! Unsere Heimkehr steht uns jetzt auch kurz bevor und wir sind etwas nervös und zwiegespalten deswegen 😅 Also tut es gut zu hören, wie andere damit umgehen :)

I just returned from 2 weeks in Africa. That was my first time out of the USA. I’ve been in vacation before in the states and always had a good time and was sad when I was home but this is different. I am utterly depressed right now. I have never been in a country that felt so much like home. And I know when you are on a vacation the circumstances are different. You don’t have work or the same responsibilities as normal life. But I felt I just connected so much with the country I was in. I’m really having a hard time coping right now. Africa was so beautiful. I loved the minimalism, the environment, the culture of the country I was in. It just felt different and I felt more connected to life. Things feel so pointless now. I know I will get over it, but it’s very difficult right now. I’ve never felt this way before . I almost wish I never even went in the first place because of how much I am struggling.

thank u man

Not sure, if I made this video for you or myself, haha. Anyone else going through this right now? Anyone ever been through this?

its been three months since i came back to spain from studying abroad in south Korea for a year and I'm still going through this

I'm slowly reaching the ending point of my trip right now and I can't help but having a lot of stress about what should I do, where should I go, etc. I'm in this situation where I'm running out of money and I don't want to go back and just rush into finding a job just ot pay my shit... I'm feeling stuck because I will have no choice but to find one and work af just to pay my rent and my food. I'm really disappointed. I would just love to keep on travelling, to be somewhere else. My travelling ends in 2 months and a half now. It's still quite far, but in few days, I'll be moving to europe for the end of my trip and I can't help but to feel like my travelling is ending now since I'm going back into this occidental lifestyle. It's freaking hard to come back...

Einigen Punkten stimme ich dir zu, anderen wiederum nicht. Aber was mich und vielleicht auch andere brennend interessiert, wie geht es nun weiter? Werdet ihr wieder sesshaft oder brennt euch schon der Hintern? :D

I wouldn't recommend backpacking for a year and then start Uni 5 days after you came back, hehe. Wasn't the best choice I'd say xD

Just came back from a week in Rome, learned the language enough to communicate on a certain level but now I'm back in united states and feel sad, for one the food in Italy is less processed and has less chemicals than the states, they take pride in their foods, one of the biggest reasons why I feel like wanted to stay, now I'm back and it's truly sad the way we live as a society

I got this.

I was vERY SAD IN 2022 THAT I LEFT LEGOLAND

What have you have achieved living with the locals of Delhi? Will the locals of Delhi see that as an achievement you trying to live their daily chores and just repeating what they've done all their lives?

Chilli, where's the Chilli??

Funny how all these 'travellers' look like they think they are 'better' than 'non travellers'. It all doesn't matter. It means nothing.

Massive massive problem isn't it. If it is such a problem don't travel !