Well, mostly no rashes. Nathan and I moved to Tanzania in July 2014 and our two year anniversary of living abroad coincided with our second trip to the US since we moved. Being ‘home’ felt very different this time around as our definition of ‘home’ continues to change. While it was of course nice to be in the US again, we were eager to return to East Africa for some of the reasons you can read about below.
Before writing this blog, I re-read the posts of our one year anniversary of moving to Tanzania and of our first trip back to the US. While we still have similar feelings about our favorite and least favorite things about living abroad, after two years I think Dar is feeling even more comfortable. I have even learned how to prevent rashes (baby soap and baby powder if you’re curious)! I will always have problems with mold though. Of course we miss some things and it was great to see family and friends in the US, but we really love living in Tanzania right now. Here are some reasons why:
- Warm weather year-round
- The opportunity to travel more often (Nathan works for a German company that values time off and I am a teacher with great breaks!)
- Eating simple, healthy food
- Meeting people that are adventurous, open-minded, passionate, caring
- Traveling to some amazing places is fairly easy
- Tanzanians are open, friendly, lovely people
- Easy-ish to escape American politics
- Consuming less (food, electricity, water, clothes, TV, etc)
- Calm pace of life (we work 50-60 hours a week, but it’s just different)
- We have both become more patient and flexible
- We really, really like our jobs and hope they are going to help improve Tanzania
- We live walking distance to the ocean
The US is also comfortable because it’s what we know best, but we sort of felt like visitors this time, living out of suitcases and feeling disconnected from the everyday American life. It was a hectic trip with too many goals (spend time with family and friends in 4 different states, get some essential shopping done, see a few doctors) but overall we had a nice time and enjoyed all the things we miss the most:
- Parks, trails, hiking, biking, walking, museums – for free!
- Understanding how things work (everything is in English, road signs, etc)
- Drinkable, free tap water
- Finding any kind of food you want (Mexican, Vietnamese, Greek yogurt, sushi, and BBQ/Southern food were the ones we ate the most of this trip home)
- Catching-up with friends and family in-person rather than through email or Skype
- High speed internet, everywhere
- Access to anything you want (drug stores, malls, Amazon – it was overwhelming)
- No fear of major food/water or mosquito-borne health issues
- Baby and dog love…there is nothing like holding and playing with them in-person
- Nathan would want me to add watching (American) sports on TV
Thank you to everyone who gave us a place to sleep and went out of their way to make our second trip home a great one! We loved seeing everyone, celebrating Grandma and Grandpa Holmes’ 60th wedding anniversary, and campaigning for Mayor Moore of Irondale!
NERD ALERT: The flight from Dar es Salaam to Atlanta is 8,400 miles and takes about 22 hours (not counting layovers).
Karibuni Vietnam, Y'all 
I love your comments – and photos. I agree 100% about reasons for liking East Africa – Jim and I would agree – in many ways it is a simpler healthier life (except for some diseases). And we are in Kenya only 1-2 months at a time. Our last trip will be in January – to complete some projects and say goodbye. We are both over 80! Keep up the great blog! Susan
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Thank you Susan for reading! You are welcome to come visit us in Dar if you have time on this last trip. I know you will be so missed by the many people you helped in Kenya.
Congrats on two years you two! Totally relate to the hectic trip back to the States…Matt and I had a similar revelation during our time between SE Asia and Bhutan. More choices does not necessarily equate to more happiness (especially shopping on Amazon…)! Anyhow, it has been so wonderful keeping tabs on you through your posts over the last couple of years. Cheers!