Confusing title, yes, I know. No, I haven’t moved to France, or the UK. Nor do I believe in American exceptionalism. The title actually comes from an emotional moment while watching the second Wicked movie on the flight back home.
As one of the wisest sages to ever grace this Earth, Kermit the Frog, once said, it ain’t easy being green. Surely this sentiment is shared by Elphaba as well. In the interest of keeping things spoiler-free, I won’t say too much, but in the scene I’m referencing, Elphaba aka The Wicked Witch of the West, despite being exiled from her homeland and shunned by all of its citizens, imagines a better future for Oz, and tries to inspire all the animals leaving Oz to do the same. Rather than leave and abandon the dream, Elphaba urges us to reconsider. It’s probably best said by the lyrics of the song itself:
“Why do I love this place/That’s never loved me?/A place that seems to be devolving/And even wanting to?/But Oz is more than just a place/It’s a promise, an idea/And I want to help make it come true
Why should a land have so much meaning/When dark times befall it?/It’s only land, made of dirt and rock and loam/It’s just a place that’s familiar/And home’s just what we call it/But there’s no place like home/Don’t we all know/There’s no place like home?
When you feel you can’t fight anymore/Just tell yourself/There’s no place like home/When you feel it’s not worth fighting for/Compel yourself/Because there’s no place like home
When you want to leave/Discouraged and resigned/That’s what they want you to do/But think how you will grieve/For all you leave behind/Oz belongs to you too
Those who would take it from you/Spout a lie to sell yourself/You go their way or go/It’s them we’ll be defeating/If we keep on repeating/There’s no place like home/There’s no place like home/There’s no place like home
If we just keep fighting for it/We will win back and restore it/There’s no place like home”
Bruh really? Was it necessary to put all the lyrics?
Yes, of course. Because they’re all applicable here. TLDR: when you feel like you want to give up and leave home, try to keep fighting, because home belongs to you, and there’s no place quite like it.
How does this have to do with a 6 week long Euro moment?
It’s easy for me to visit places like France and Scotland and England and think man, if only I was born in a different place, if only I could just get one of those elusive visas, seeking a spouse with EU citizenship etc, etc, etc. Too easy. Too easy to envision a life where everything just feels easier: compost bins that are provided and picked up at the curb, trains everywhere, free healthcare, better wages, the list goes on. A land of plenty. This is not to say that the US is the antithesis of this. Surely we are a land of plenty, too. But it is increasingly feeling like plenty for only a few people and not much for the rest of us.
Standard disclaimer, yes, there are excellent things about the US and I am indeed quite grateful to have been born and raised here. And it is precisely because of this that I feel convicted that I will not leave. Sometimes I wish I could just not care. It would definitely make things easier. Alas, I was born one of the sentimental ones. Just like Elphaba, as much as I sometimes feel that this land is in fact not my land and doesn’t love me and is beyond repair, the US is home. And I refuse to stand by and watch as my home burns to the ground. Well, maybe. It’s a bit more complicated than that. I think a more accurate analogy may be that I am willing to watch it all burn. I may even throw some fuel into the fire. Maybe we need a clean start. Well, not maybe. But anyway, it doesn’t stop there. More importantly, I want to help rebuild. I want to help build my home back up and see it into a new age of peace, justice, equity, prosperity shared by all, and living in harmony with nature.
Why? Why not just leave?
Because it’s my home. And there’s no place like it.
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Alright mister that’s enough soapboxing get down off your high horse now. Give us the content we came here for.
Ask and ye shall receive. Let’s set the mood first shall we?
Playlist of the episode:
You Exist (Tommy Lefroy)
WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! (RAYE)
Escaper (Sarah Kinsley)
.. THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING FOR LOVE ) (Saya Gray)
PUDDLE ( OF ME ) (Saya Gray)
Drop dead (Olivia Rodrigo)
The Adults Are Talking (Antidote Live Session) (beabadoobee)
Tender as a Tomb (Tennis)
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First stop France! A couple days alone in a medieval village followed by a glorious, sun-soaked, exhale of a reunion with Marty 🙂
After a full day of trains (including taking that Eurostar not to France but from France, sorry Olivia Rodrigo, I was so close but not quite) and a border agent who was not convinced that I was in fact returning to Denver on May 5, I arrived in Glasgow for a long-overdue (almost 3 years later) reunion with my friend Soph who I met while teaching English in Bilbao. The next day we embarked on a plan 3 years in the making – hiking the West Highland Way. Somehow I have not completed a thru hike before this one, and sheesh what a trail to start with.
Some things I learned from 9 days on trail:
Primroses: pretty and tasty. Bluebells: pretty and deadly.
Even though people drive on the left there is apparently no official rule for what side of the trail to walk on?
Flapjack = manna.
Irn Bru = nectar of the gods
Trench foot takes longer than 9 days to take effect.
Highland Cow? Nah. Heighlan Coo.
The Green Welly Stop is in fact criminally overpriced.
Two tarps and a rain fly are not adequate protection from Scotland’s wet.
Even when you experience genuinely the worst weather you’ve ever experienced, freezing rain blowing sideways at you in gale force wind for essentially an entire day, the sun will in fact come out again one day, it just might be over a week later. But we got lucky and it was just a couple days later.
There is absolutely no shame in trading in the tent for the glamping pod. Always worth it.
And last but not least, mate, have a cuppa.
After a brief side quest over the Glenfinnan Viaduct (Hogwarts Train scene from Chamber of Secrets) to the Silver Sands of Morar (yes real place not a place in The Shire), I took the train just past Inverness where I worked at an estate/arboretum for a week and met these lovely people 🙂
Forever grateful for our little farm family, no matter how short lived. Until next time y’all 🫡
Then on to the Cairngorms for a one night trip out to Loch Einich
And then another reunion! This time in Edinburgh with the homie Lizzie
And finally off to Leeds to reunite once more with Soph, and for a couple of side quests to Ilkley, York, and to The Lake District (yes, England has mountains. Proper mountains).
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Acknowledgements: this trip would not have been possible without the generosity of friends, for which I am always grateful beyond words. Thank you all for not only being generous with your time but also for opening your homes to me and for putting up with my mischievous behavior and sometimes breaking things. Much love to y’all as always. Thank you also to all of these places – much to learn from each and every one of you. Stay beautiful y’all. You too, reader.
See you in Glacier soon friends 🙂
🫶Evan
Adventure Froggo Bloggo 
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