Oregon Coast Weekend.
Living so far away from home is still something I learn to deal with. It's easier, much much easier than it's been, but still. The last two years I've learned a few things that help with homesickness. (If you're a South African wondering if you're home sick you should read this to double check).
I've learned to listen to South African music, call my mom and drink rooibos tea when I'm feeling far from home. I've also discovered that the ocean is a great comfort.
The ocean is so constant. Standing at the edge of where the waves meet the shore, staring out to the deep, infinite wild blue space I feel like I'm where I've been before. Where I've been with family, where I spent Summer holidays or wild adventrures from my early twenties, it's so familiar to me. The ocean greets me with a magical smell, breeze and sound that's the same whether it's the Indian, Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
I could for a moment imagine I'm on the beach with my sister, walking along the Jeffery's Bay coastline, or on December school holiday, caravan camping with my family on the East Coast of South Africa. I'm not the stranger in Northwest America, I'm in a familiar and welcoming place.
This trip was my first visit to the lusciously lovely state of Oregon and I'm a fan. We packed our new puppy, our bigger tent and soup cans to spend 4 nights exploring up and down the coast. Again, it was a lot of driving, but we don't mind that so much. The campsites were full, but the beaches where empty. We spent many hours just the three of us walking the low-tide sandy part, discovering washed up treasures and letting puppy Henry have the best day of his life. We even found a washed up bottle cap with Japanese writing on it, from the Tsunami maybe.
Hoping to sneak at least one more camping trip in before the big freeze arrives.
