People can be odd and I’m certainly one of the oddest.

Despite loving to travel and try different things, I’m really into my routine. When I’m not travelling I have a set workout schedule, rotating breakfast menu, and I grocery shop every Thursday (yes, every Thursday). So I guess it’s not surprising that when Steve returns from weeks of business travel I haven’t tagged along on, I find it a bit … jarring. Even though I miss him when he’s gone. His return home sets me off a touch.

Suddenly, I can’t grind coffee beans in the morning if he’s still sleeping.

The foods he detests that I’ve been eating while he’s been away are now off the menu (ah, Brussels sprouts, till we meet again).

We suddenly have a string of back-to-back dates with friends and family because Steve hasn’t seen everyone in so long and is heading out again soon.

There’s someone ELSE in my living space … creating laundry and dishes, playing music I don’t like and reaching for the hair dryer at THE SAME TIME I AM!

He’s also been away somewhere and I have been at home … grocery shopping on Thursdays and not travelling. Yes, maybe I’m just a bit envious.

How crazy is this? All of these things are so minor, yet they can leave me feeling slightly annoyed for the first few days until we settle back into a new rhythm.

Steve on the other hand has to get used to doing household chores again. Housekeeping staff doesn’t make the bed and clean the bathroom every day. Oh, and because he’s my on-call tech support, I usually have three or four things I need him to help me with, like, right now.

Then there’s my eagerness to share all my experiences, thoughts, and plans with Steve that have been percolating in his absence – usually all on the first day he’s back. While he’s been with people and expending energy being “on” while he was away, I have been more isolated and have had a lot of down time. I am just SO ready to interact.

It’s pathetically funny. When I pick him up from the airport Steve’s often jet lagged and groggy. I, on the other hand, am jabbering away as soon as he gets into the car, just bursting with information and things I can’t wait to share! I’m like that little dog Chester trying to get Spike’s attention in that Looney Tunes classic. “How ‘bout chasing some cars Spike, would you like that Spike, huh?”


(Editor’s note: Let me be clear, Steve does not smack my furry face in response or regularly dangle a toothpick from his mouth).

This travel-reunion-travel-reunion cycle has become easier to deal with after more than a decade of it. We immediately realize that we are out of sync and can laugh at the temporary friction. It helps to recognize that needing to get to “know” each other again after being apart is also what keeps our relationship fresh.

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