Things I learned on the journey and, especially, upon coming home

You hear that word "journey" thrown around a lot these days. "That's part of my journey,""it's all about the journey," etc., ad nauseum.  I sort of hate it, like I sort of hate any term that becomes an overused word célèbre. But I recently returned from a real, literal journey - a road trip, if you will - and it did manage to teach me a few things. To wit:
1) The bad thing about traveling solo is not being able to share your experiences with a companion. (This blog helped.)
2) The good things about traveling solo are feeling courageous, clearing your head and taking all the time you want to get ready in the morning.
3) If you're going to travel solo, try to bookend the alone parts with visits from great friends.
4) Don't leave home without Siri and Google Maps. (Without them, I would be lost in the desert, as we speak, searching blindly for water and gasoline.)
5) Audio books are gifts from God.
6) People are basically the same everywhere. Except for the whack jobs in the Santa Fe Trader Joe's on a Friday night. They're different.
7) Your loved ones can survive without you. Hard to believe, but true.
8) Room service is another gift from God.
9) Even with high thread counts, hospital corners and chocolates on pillows, there is no hotel bed better than your own bed. 
10) There's no place like home.

It's all about the road trip, friends.