I am 20 years old, and I have never spent a Thanksgiving dinner away from York, Pennsylvania, at my Grandparent’s house. Until this year. My best friend was turning 21 the day after Thanksgiving, and there was no way I was going to miss it. I told my parents early on I wouldn’t be coming home, and they were fine with it. My family is a small bunch of about eight people and I am the youngest one at the table. With only one cousin and one aunt, it tends to be repetitive, so I was really looking forward to something different this year.
So Thanksgiving this year was in Portland, Oregon! My first time to the West Coast was two summers ago, where the days were packed with exploration, beach trips, and beer pong with my best friend’s grandparents. I couldn’t wait to get back to a favorite, newfound place to celebrate with my best friend! The six hour flight wasn’t so bad, thanks to Anne Hathaway and Robert Di Nero. If you haven’t seen The Intern yet, you need to procrastinate your homework even more and go watch I️t. As an intern right now, this movie was so relatable, heartwarming, and laugh-out-loud funny. We landed in PDX before I knew I️t.
It’s amazing how there really is a difference between air in New York City and air anywhere else. I felt refreshed as soon as I stepped outside. Met with big hugs and quesadillas from my BFF’s family, we headed home! I forgot what relaxing was like and I was so happy to just sit around and chat. I called and talked to my parents, who said they missed me, and I hung up excited to get back to doing nothing.
Thanksgiving morning came, and I’ll admit, I missed my family a little bit. But the hint of homesickness went away as we got to work on mini pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is getting dressed up for absolutely no reason. I did one of my best faces of makeup, just to stuff it with brussel sprouts. With jet lag and a full belly, I went to sleep around 10PM, ready to celebrate my friends birthday tomorrow. We woke up to more coffee, more food, and more celebration. The relaxed day led to dinner and drinks out and one of the most Portland-spots we could have found.
One more day of relaxing and we hopped on a red-eye back to the city. I️t wasn’t until later on Monday night, that I really started to miss my home, and my family. I live pretty close, so I can go home almost anytime I want, depending on how much the train tickets are. So I didn’t think I’d be too upset not going home. But I think being in one home, made me really eager to go to another. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to travel and celebrate my best friend, but now I just can’t wait to go home to my parents and my puppies. Distance makes the heart grow fonder right?