Hawaii felt different for us. As my husband and I reflected on this trip, we don’t just miss the beach, the turquoise waters, or Disney Aulani in my case. We miss a sense of familiarity. We truly felt like it had such a homey feel that we could not shake off, possibly because we’ve never encountered such warmth before in our domestic travels.

There’s something incredibly tender about the way children mimic the world around the them. This morning as I was already thick into my morning routine of washing bottles, cooking breakfast, and cleaning up spilled milk from my toddler horsing around, I overheard the kiddos playing “house.” But this time, it wasn’t just sweet, it was familiar.

Everything seemed so much bigger as an 11-year-old compared to a now 35. The road from my apartment to our favorite park felt forever long, but in reality is only 0.5 miles away. The hill I learned how to ride a bike felt like a mountainous incline, but in reality was no taller than a small mound. It was nice to be in a familiar place, yet I felt like a complete stranger to a place I once called home.

California has become such a hard place for us to visit; so much to do and see, but never enough time. We flew down to LA for Disneyland, drove three hours north to Fresno where my parents reside, then drove another three hours north to San Francisco to where my in-laws are, then added 45 minutes north to Sacramento to visit my old college friends (whom I haven’t seen in over five years), and drove back down to Fresno to spend my dad’s birthday with him. But the silver lining to all of this- Vichai and I got a total of NINE hours of uninterrupted conversation in the car. We joked that it was a nice little “couples retreat” for us as we have been so busy making the Saefong House go round.