When I first started traveling around the country in 2000, every destination was exotic and glorious, mostly because it I grew up in a sleepy town in the rural South. My friends and I joked that we had a lower suicide rate than big cities because there were no building you could jump from with hopes of ending your life. The closest we came to scraping the sky was our two-story courthouse. At most, you would twist an ankle if you stepped off the roof.

However, after ten years of heavy traveling, the United States is starting to seem like a smaller place. This afternoon I will travel to Rhode Island and finish in Massachusetts, a region of the country I’ve traveled to at least a dozen times. I’ve made at least twenty trips to the New York / Long Island, and just as many to Southern California. These places are no longer foreign to me; they are more like suburbs of my life separated only by a flight.

Earlier this month I made a quick trip to Denver to speak at a couple events. My most vivid memory of Denver comes from 2003 when I went on tour with Third Day through five cities in the West. By the time was made it to Denver, I was tired of living in arenas and the tour bus. I stumbled out of the bus early that morning and–barely awake–I walked away from the Pepsi Center with hopes of finding adventure in the city. On my way out of the parking lot I peeked through the windows of a cool bar inside of a historic brick building. In the five or so years since that trip, I’ve recalled the site of that building and wondered what has become of it. I was hoping on this trip into town we would maybe drive by. The crazy thing is that one of the events I spoke at was in the basement of that bar. How awesome is that?

It is satisfying to reconnect with a place that once new. The shimmer is gone, but in it’s place is something that is better–familiarity. I am at a point in my life where traveling for the sake of traveling is not as rewarding as it used to be. If I do travel, I want to bring Candyce and Norah with me. And if that’s not possible, the next best thing is to travel to an area that is familiar.