The more time I spend outside of the U.S., the less interested I am in experiencing the exotic uniqueness of local culture. I wasn’t always like this. I used to be much more adventurous in visiting tourist destinations (those close enough to require little planning), attending cultural events, sampling street food, trolling local markets, and learning the local language.

In contrast to my sister, I’m not much of a sightseer or tourist. When she visited me in Japan several years ago with her husband, we went to Kyoto. We had to skip lunch because we were in a rush to make it in time for the tour of Kyoto Imperial Palace. As we trudged from place to place the rest of the afternoon with our stomachs growling, we realized that we would make it to our last destination, Ryoanji Temple, just minutes before it closed. My brother-in-law and I wanted to skip it and go straight to dinner instead. My sister, however, used a bit of reverse psychology on us and said, “I’ve already seen it before. I’d just feel sorry for you if you don’t get a chance to see it.”

Maybe it’s because I go everywhere with a young toddler that makes me less inclined to go deeper into local neighborhoods in a developing country like Vietnam. But, I think it’s more because after six years, I’m tired of stretching myself. I want to keep my life in steady equilibrium; not always reaching out and testing the limits. Frankly, I’d just like to have a comfortable life without struggling all the time to do even the simplest things like buying food.

Today, we were pleased to try Juice, a new restaurant in town opened by an American chef that serves fruit smoothies similar to our beloved Jamba Juice in California. We indulged in a white chocolate smoothie, a strawberry smoothie, a plain toasted bagel, a corned beef and sauerkraut sandwich, chili Colorado, and a chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and rainbow sprinkles. I also noted for future visits that they serve Peets coffee as well.

While it’s nice to know that a life abroad can be full of new experiences and adventures, it’s equally nice to know that it can feel like home too.

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