Travel is great – seeing new places, reconnecting with old friends, having adventures. But part of the spark of travel, for me, is the joy of coming home and seeing my old space with fresh eyes.

When I’m on the road (or boat or plane or whatever), here’s what I typically miss:

• My humidifier. So lame but so necessary for my allergy-ridden head, to the point where I actually bought a travel version this week and had it shipped to my sister’s office. But I’m glad to be back with my real one now.
• My gym. Once again I carried a lot of exercise gear with me and never used it. Sure, tomorrow I’ll go for a pre-work run in solidarity with the marathoners, but there’s nothing like your home gym aka Tuesday Zumba classes.
• Leftovers. I LOVE LEFTOVERS. It’s one of the saddest parts of travel when I can’t bring food home from a great dinner and know that it will be there for me later in the week. Already remedied this: tonight’s Indian dinner is tomorrow’s lunch.
• My desk. Double monitors set to exactly the right height = work nirvana. Plus my awesome Boston officemates with whom I have a week worth of catching up to do. 
• My daily talks with grandma. (Hi Booboo!) I have so many times in a typical week when I call my grandma en route to my next stop and we catch up about politics, Royal gossip, the drama at her retirement community, etc. When I travel, I usually fill that time either with other people or trying not to get lost, so it’s great to get home and talk more often.
• My roommate and our sweet apartment. That’s the deal when you live with your best friend – you actually miss them and the cute life you’ve built together. Plus, it’s necessary to check in once in a while so that before your bag is even unzipped… never mind unpacked… you can start planning your next trip!

What do you miss the most when you leave home?

*bonus points if you get the title reference