You had such an awesome opportunity at such a young age to see and learn about the world. Thanks for sharing your story.
I know what you mean about not fitting in when getting back. When I used to go on various travels with my family I would come back and think that people would want to hear about my adventures, but they were really dismissive about it.
I guess that's when I started to discover that I was very different than the people around me. Funny that you and me are sorta from the same area. Same general mindset I would think.