I have been laying low on the blog in the past few months. Work has been busy coupled with a business trip to Lima and preparation to escape winter in Santiago during July and August. We decided to go mostly to Europe and a side trip to the US. We went to soak up some sunshine, get fresh air (something that’s been hard to come by in smoggy Santiago this winter), and find inspiration on the Mediterranean and in the streets of Paris and New York. Sometimes, I still think my head got lost in Paris’ deliciousness and beauty, and forgot to board the plane home.

We’ll always have Paris though. Our baby girl celebrated her first birthday under the Eiffel Tower as her parents drank champagne. She slept for all the official photos, of course! I suppose she’s technically now a toddler. She took her first steps in Jardin du Luxembourg, her first word was “alo”, and she learned to chew by way of Parisian baguettes so she is now eating the same food we do (huge fan of stinky French cheese).

We landed last week in “winter” in Santiago. Winter is relative here. It feels like a cool summer in northern Europe. Maybe, just maybe, I will need a scarf and trench coat. The trees are beginning to blossom as spring approaches. I still want rain and there’s none in the forecast. That being said, I love “jumping” seasons. It’s the perfect cure for weather boredom. Not only do you get to use a different wardrobe, I trade in all my seasonal vegetables, too. My body starts craving different foods. Those hot days along the French Riviera in early July drinking chilled rose from Provence and sipping gazpacho seem quite far away. Even more so when I consider the five pounds of duck thighs I just ordered to make homemade confit de canard this weekend for my husband’s birthday.

As we ground again as a family, I am finding my footing and settling back into “home”. It doesn’t always happen immediately. I am not one of those people who can just arrive, unpack, and pick up from where I left off. Too much happened in between. I slowly warm up, sipping the local flavor surrounding me. It’s grounding for me to catch up with my caseros in the market for long overdue visits. Talking about our lives, families, and vegetables makes me happy. I make plans to see friends for wine, coffee, even a detox at the sauna. I am getting back into my gym routine. Even in my daily outings to run errands or hitting the playground with my daughter, after being away, my eyes catch subtle details and differences I seemed to have glossed over before. I guess I really needed a vacation.

But, isn’t that what travel is about? Sure, the journey is always an adventure (especially when traveling with a small child on multiple long haul flights), but the act of distancing ourselves temporarily allows us to reinsert ourselves back into daily life and reconnect with renewed eyes and energy. That distance often allows us to make major life decisions, too. I certainly cannot lie that part of me was, and is, very taken with France. Besides Paris and its inescapable charms, I keep wanting to hit “rewind” for that and the Cote d’Azur again–and again. France certainly has je ne sais quoi–for me.
Earlier today when I headed out to my favorite coffee spot in the barrio, Colmado, I smiled when I heard a group of Chilean university students giving each other a hard time. In their funny local slang, one guy finally exclaimed, “Ya po’ huevon!!”, the Chilean equivalent of “Enough dude!!”. Oh, Chile. I am, indeed, home again.

I promise I will be back to posting very, very soon. Thanks for standing by.