Re-entry

I feel the need to explain some of my post-trip decompression process. It is not a fool-proof method, and really, you should only use it if you don't mind ending up with severe neuroses like mine.

1. Plan for re-entry before you leave. This is incredibly important. You are the only one who knows how you process things. Do you need people? Do you need quiet? Every trip you go on is a life-changing experience, and if you aren't prepared to process what you see and hear, you will lose some of what you could have learned. Personally, I need some quiet time with my family (usually my parents). My mom always knows which questions to ask to draw out those little nuggets of gold, but she also respects that it may take me some time to answer a specific question.

2. Journal. Religiously. I don't care if you just write a list of your activities, take the time at the end of the day to write. Write about what happened, how it made you feel, things you overheard, people you were frustrated by - whatever, vomit as much as you can on the page. It's really easy to forget the little things that brightened your day if you don't write them down. I have a specific journal that I use for all my trips, because a lot of what I experience has happened before in some form or another. It's easier to go back and see how certain things were handled if it's all in one place.

3. Don't make any monumental decisions for at least two days after you get home. It would be really easy to come back from the poverty of Africa and decide you really don't need all that stuff in your house. And yeah, you may not need it. But take a few days to think about it. Are you ready to give all your money to the Nicaragua building fund? Fantastic. Can you afford it? Probably not. It's okay to want to take action about what you've seen; in fact, I would encourage it. But do it in a way that makes sense for you.

4. Talk to people about your trip. I know, you didn't expect to see that on any list I made, but it is important. There are certain things to remember, though. First, I'm going to address the more verbose members of my audience. You will have no problem with this. In fact, you are going to tell everyone you meet about this trip, regardless of whether or not they want to hear about it, and that's fine. But respect your audience. No one has experienced exactly what you have on this trip, and they may not be quite as enthused about the things you saw as you are. That's why it's important to plan ahead. Do you have people who will listen to you no matter what? Talk to them first. They will listen to all you have to say, and then they can help you pick out some shorter stories that you can tell to the less patient individuals who ask about your trip but don't really want to hear everything.

Now, as for the rest of us, I realize that asking you to talk is akin to asking you to climb into the lion cage at the zoo - utterly unthinkable. But people can actually have some value for you at this stage. Take your time to think and process on your own, but when people ask you questions about your trip, try to answer them with more than four words. They might ask you things you wouldn't think about on your own. I was really frustrated when I got back from Thailand and South Asia because I was having a hard time processing things. But the more people asked me about the trip, the more I was able to think and process.

Also, for both types of people, it may help to have a reunion with the people who were with you on the trip. Then again, it may not. But if you do, try to forgive the people who really annoyed you. It'll help with the next one.

5. Be at peace. Whatever your final conclusions are about the trip, you aren't done with re-entry until you make your peace with it. Whether you have some things to change, decisions to make, people to forgive or ask forgiveness of, don't start something else until you feel peace in your soul about your trip. I hesitated when I was first asked to go to Poland because I still wasn't at peace over South Asia. Once I had settled things there, I could concentrate on seeking God's will about Poland.

You should be able to track this process pretty well in my blog posts. I may not mention it at all, but you will be able to tell how I'm doing by the length of time it takes me to get a trip post done.

On that note, expect the Poland post to be up soon.