Reverse Culture Shock Confusion (and complaints)

Reverse culture shock is one of the aspects of travel that, perhaps, people don't think about it. It's not just the post-vacay sadness that you're back to reality and not relaxing anymore. It's the realization that you kind of forgot about some things about your own culture because you adapted to a new one, and, in some cases, you may not necessarily like coming back to the aspects, or realize your opinions have changed. Let's talk my own personal reverse culture shock.

(Me drinking a proper margarita for the first time in over a year)

My first reverse culture shock (RCS from here on, because I'm lazy) happened when I came back from a week-long learning trip to Haiti. We arrived back in America to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Now I've never been to Fort Lauderdale, but upon arrival, I immediately was uncomfortable with the plastic vibes I was getting. After a wonderful experience in rural Haitian villages, I was out of my element and wanted to get out ASAP. 

A little more recently, I arrived home from Dublin. Coming back to Colorado was fine, I readjusted to my lack of partying lifestyle and readjusted to the country-western vibes I grew up with.

The real kicker was traveling back to Los Angeles. Now I didn't grow up in LA, so even traveling back after college was weird because it wasn't my home anymore. But this time, stepping off the plane immediately made me feel uneasy and I wanted desperately to be back in Ireland. 

(Venice Beach - very different to Ireland)

The people at the airport were not nice or chipper, there were ~trendy~ LA things everywhere, and I couldn't navigate where to pick up my Uber (I even confused myself using the app). Thank the Seven Gods old and new (Game of Thrones reference for you plebians), that one of my best friends swooped in to pick me up in my overwhelming fit.

(Trendy acai bowl - I never said I wasn't a basic bitch)

(Trendy neon sign)

The trip just got more and more confusing as I went. I will always love Los Angeles and my friends there, but there are so many things I was oblivious to when I was going to college there. Maybe it's because I grew in a different way than most in my post-grad year, but still, I was way out of my new-found element. 

(I will never grow out of free food at bars though [The Gaslite, Santa Monica])

There's a lot of judgment and cliques and not a ton of laid-back socializing. This made me feel weird.

There's also a lot of very long lines to go bars where people don't actually seem to be exuding exciting vibes. Vibes more along the lines of strange nervous laughter. 

(Santa Monica mid-walk. Would never stop in the middle of a street, I don't have a death sentence.)

These complaints/uneasy feelings aside though, I had the best time hanging out with my besties after not seeing most of them for over a year. There were 1/4 of the things I missed the most while I was in Ireland, so the giggles, and stories, and jokes, and parties helped me acclimate back to my American lifestyle and ease my RCS. For the record, the four things I missed most (in no particular order) were: the beach, my dogs, my family, my friends.

(My bestie Julia and her dog, Lino, enhancing our photoshoot.)

(Her blog)

I don't have any tips or tricks for getting over RCS, but I suppose it helps that I will be headed back to Europe so soon. As we all know booking trips is my problem solver in almost all situations. 10/10 would recommend. 

xoxo,

Lisa