After a glorious week in gorgeous Mexico City, we arrived safe and sound at the Boston Logan International Airport yesterday evening or (more accurately) this morning. As much as I cried while we were leaving Mexico, it's good to be home. Or, as Tim mentioned, it's good to be home again here in our little fishing shack by the sea with the knowledge that we'll return to our second home – the world with our packs on our backs – one day soon.

As I write, Sheila (my sister) and Jeff (my brother-in-law) should be arriving at the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Their flight leaves in a few hours and they'll spend the next 30 minutes or so navigating their way through the maze of airport trains, ticketing, and security.

Saying goodbye to them yesterday, with the Catedral Metropolitana and the rest of the Zocalo as our backdrop, was incredibly difficult. At one point, after hugging and kissing our goodbyes (Tim and I were headed to the airport while Sheila and Jeff were heading out for a new adventure), I turned and trotted back to them for one last hug. The police – decked out nearby in riot gear for some yet-to-be-determined reason – had friendly smiles for me as they noticed tears streaming down my face after my last hug with Sheila. (Tim even heard a few of them say, "Awwwww.") And that really typifies Mexico in many ways: for all its turmoil, for all its difficulties, it is an incredibly welcoming, beautiful, and uplifting place.

I'm looking forward to sharing our stories from Mexico City over the coming weeks: from a garden of cats, to a warehouse of flowers, to a mysteriously absent festival of music, to classical music in the Zocalo, and everything in-between. There are many stories to share of random discoveries, friendly faces, and exciting adventures.

But for now, for today, know that there are two hedgehogs who are madly in love with yet another city in yet another country.