I was welcomed to the Boston airport by the wonderful aroma of Dunkin Donuts as I walked out from the baggage claim. This was the most intense culture shock I had experienced yet in my year of traveling. The whine of loud American accents complaining about something or other rang in my ears like the most horrible siren that wouldn’t stop. I looked around for a sign telling me where to go for connecting flights and opted to walk the 5 minutes to the terminal rather than follow the hoards of people rushing to get on the bus (yes, they have a bus for those too lazy to walk 5 minutes). Two hours later I was in Washington, D.C., on my way to see my family for the first time in six months. The next couple weeks consisted of nonstop family reunions, which was incredible after being on another continent for so long and separated from my family.


Family
The next day was my grandma’s funeral ceremony. Though sad, she had a great 93 year life and it was a wonderful way to bring together the extended family that I hadn’t seen in years. All of the cousins gave speeches, sang songs, or read passages written by my grandma, and I presented a poem that I had written on the plane. It went like this:


Once there lived a beautiful soul,
who refused to eat an unhealthy cereal bowl.
She was my grandma,
but I called her Nana,
and the family she raised deserves the utmost praise.
For 93 years she graced the Earth,
and to my father she gave birth.
She left behind some great memories,
like time spent with Choo Choo and Cinder, her two doggies.
She used to have a house at Bethany Beach,
an hour past the fruit stand that sold pies made of peach.
Those family reunions I’ll never forget,
Kayaking and canoeing into the sunset.
We planted flags on newly discovered islands,
and played whack-a-mole at the boardwalk, going home with several wins.
One time I fell in the jellyfish-infested canal water,
and Nana was there for me, as was Rondell, her daughter.
Later in life she wasn’t so mobile,
but a quality that remained is that she was always noble.
One time my Nana had a great fall,
but a broken leg didn’t stop her from painting pictures for my bedroom wall,
and then she got shingles and could no longer paint happily,
so I taught her Sudoku with giant numbers that she could see.
The last time I saw her was one year ago,
with my dad in her Riderwood home.
I read her a book but I don’t think she understood what I said,
because, unfortunately, she was on her deathbed.
But though she was no longer with us mentally,
I could tell that she knew it was me.
That day is our last memory together,
and it’s one that I’ll remember forever.
She left behind a family, perhaps her greatest gift,
Aunts and uncles and cousins whom I hope to never lose touch with,
So let’s keep reuniting year after year,
It’s what Nana would have wanted if she were still here.


All of the Fergies, next to Nana’s paintings


After the memorial service we all piled into cars and headed to Bethany Beach, Delaware, where we would stay for the next week in two rented houses, one of which had been owned by my grandparents when I was a kid and brought back great memories. My grandparents’ old house had kayaks and canoes which we could use and the other house had an elevator inside, which was pretty ridiculous. It was amazing to reconnect with my cousins, including Eric, who has been playing D1 baseball and may be on his way to the professional leagues, Ryan, who I had nearly lost contact with for a few years but he has been traveling in and out of South America for the past 3 years, having very similar experiences to me on my travels, Andrea, who is finishing chiropractic school and moving back to Taos, NM, and Claire and Helen who I have seen much more than the others but was still great to see them again.
 
The Fergies, before and after. 1995 (?) to 2015
 
Fergie cousins at the beach house
Beach chillin’ with a wine bottle of water and one shoe
For the week we swam every day in the waves, had morning yoga sessions on the beach, and cooked some amazing meals. Some highlights included a night canoe/kayak ride to discover Big Whale Island–an “island” in the middle of the bay, jumping around in the waves, watching dolphins corral thousands of fish up to the shore and then feast on them while occasionally jumping out of the water and giving us a show, improvising a video (which you can see below, or here) and bonding with family members who I had lost contact with for a few years. We also went to the crab shack for dinner one night, a yearly tradition of my family in which we order all-you-can-eat crabs and spend the next 3 hours downing beers and cracking crab shells until we go home reeking of a fish market. It’s always one of my favorite meals of the year.


Beach yoga, led by Ryan

 

On an adventure to big whale island

 

A tradition

 

Mickey’s Crab Shack, complete with a beer tower and hundreds of crabs


An incredible work of art (click here if it doesn’t load)


After Delaware, we returned to Washington, D. C., for my grandma’s burial ceremony and for another big family reunion, this time with my mom’s side of the family. Since my grandma had been a marine in her youth, she was given a full military ceremony complete with American flags and fully-uniformed marines shooting their guns in the air in the Arlington Cemetery. It was something I had only ever seen in movies, and was really cool to see my grandmother receiving this kind of recognition for her service.


Later that afternoon, Beckwiths from all over the east coast gathered in Arlington, Virginia, for an afternoon and I got to see even more family that I hadn’t seen in years. It was incredible to see so much family, and this trip really reminded me of how important it is to keep in touch with all of my family members, even those cousins who live far away. That evening, my mom and I headed to the airport for the last of our family visits–Florida to see my other grandma, uncle, and aunt.

Beckwith cousins


Our time in Florida was spent mainly at the beach and eating fancy meals with my grandma. Delicious home-cooked meals and nice restaurants were very welcome after living on a backpacker’s diet for the past year, so I indulged on my eating experience as much as possible while with family.

 

 

Dinner with grandma
The Florida trip was quick, and three days later I already found myself on a flight back to D.C., where I would spend two more days before returning to Europe. The date was July 3, and the next day would be the first time in four years that I had been in the US for Independence Day. I stocked up on American flag Budweiser cans and headed over to a party with some Pomona friends to enjoy the day off and watch the many fireworks displays over the nation’s capital.


the only photo to come out of DC, two sexy models

 

I didn’t take this, but the fireworks looked something like this

 

I woke up the next morning on Henry’s floor with a terrible headache, stoked that I was finally within reach of some classic American hangover food. Another highlight of my trip was brunch that morning/afternoon: Chipotle. Though I was never the biggest fan of Chipotle before I went to Europe, spending a year without burritos had made me crave that delicious Tex-Mex more than ever before, and it lived up to every expectation. It was so good that I got Chipotle again for dinner that evening, at the airport as I headed out for the next stage of my journey: Europe round 2! I excitedly boarded the Icelandair flight to Reykjavik and passed out immediately, waking up again at 6 AM with a gorgeous view of the volcanic island spread out below me. This trip back to the US had given me an amazing sense of belonging and made me think a lot about how lucky I am to have such an amazing, supportive extended family, and now I was ready to hit the road again and fulfill my dream of exploring every remote corner of Europe and beyond.