From America to Home Again! 🇺🇸🇬🇧

Hello, friends!

Well… that’s it. Our great American adventure has officially come to an end — at least on YouTube!

Our final vlog from the trip is now out, and we certainly didn’t finish quietly.

We headed out on an airboat in Florida in search of wild alligators and somehow ended up eating gator too.

A few of you quite rightly pointed out the irony of this. We’ve spent years being nervous about trying fish and seafood, yet suddenly we’re actively hunting down somewhere that will serve us ALLIGATOR!

For two Brits who grew up eating very little fish or seafood — largely because it simply wasn’t something our families cooked — this trip has taken us rather a long way outside our comfort zones. We tried white fish, lobster and now gator.

At this rate, who knows what we'll be eating next?

The post-America blues are real…

Coming home was a strange feeling.

The truth is, we really didn't want to leave America. After being there for so long, something unexpected happened: it started to feel like home.

We'd walk into the supermarket and know where everything was. We'd drive around places we'd visited several times and know where we were going. The unfamiliar had gradually become familiar, and somewhere along the way we stopped feeling quite so much like tourists.

Every day seemed to bring another adventure, another new place or another ridiculous thing for us to try.

Then suddenly… we were home.

And actually, those first moments back in our own house were lovely. There were silly little things we'd missed that we'd never even thought about — including, bizarrely, carpet! After weeks of rental properties with practical hard floors, sinking our feet into our own carpet felt strangely luxurious.

We had our own beds, our own things and all those little home comforts again.

But once the novelty of being home wore off, everything felt a little… ordinary.

I think I (Nakita) definitely had a case of the post-America blues. After weeks of waking up wondering what adventure was coming next, getting back into normal routines took some adjusting.

Meanwhile, our girls decided to grow up ❤️

Life certainly hasn't stood still while we've been feeling sorry for ourselves.

Our little Alissa turned ONE!

We celebrated by going to see Bluey's Big Play, which she absolutely loved — and Elana did too.

Alissa now has considerably more teeth than when we left for America, which means she's clearly preparing herself for the important things in life: brisket, brisket and more brisket.

David's barbecue food had better watch out.

She's also becoming a proper little chatterbox. Admittedly, quite a lot of it is still a language understood primarily by us, but we know what she means!

One of the sweetest things at the moment is watching her copy her big sister. When Elana practises the letter sounds she's learning at school, Alissa joins in and tries to make the same sounds.

And speaking of Elana…

We have a schoolgirl!

Last month our little girl started school.

Beforehand, Elana was quite adamant that she didn't particularly want to go. Naturally, we worried about how she would settle in.

We needn't have worried.

She absolutely loves it.

She's excited to go in, excited to see her friends and is already learning new letters and sounds. They're doing so much through activities and play that half the time she doesn't even realise she's learning.

Over the space of just a few weeks, she suddenly seems so much more grown up.

As parents, that's a slightly horrible feeling because part of you desperately wants them to stay little forever. So many of you have told us over the years just how quickly this stage disappears, and we're beginning to understand exactly what you meant.

But watching both girls flourish is also pretty wonderful.

Finding my cooking mojo again

There was one other thing I struggled with after coming home: turning the cameras back on.

I've obviously been cooking for the family since we returned — I haven't been feeding everyone frozen dinners for two months! — but cooking dinner and getting out the cameras to create something interesting for a video are two very different things.

After such a huge adventure, I just couldn't find that spark.

Every time I thought about filming, I struggled to get excited about it. I missed America, I missed travelling, and I think I simply needed some time to readjust.

Then last week, something clicked.

I baked with Elana.

We filmed it.

And I enjoyed myself.

Since then I've filmed another video too, and suddenly that excitement is coming back. I'm finding my rhythm again and remembering exactly why I love doing this.

A lot of that is thanks to you. Whenever I've mentioned how I've been feeling, so many people have understood immediately. You've told me to give myself time, that the motivation would return and that there was no need to force it.

You were right.

A slight spanner in the works…

There has also been another rather unexpected obstacle to filming.

David broke his front tooth.

Not ideal when a sizeable part of your job involves eating things on camera!

Unfortunately, it couldn't be saved, so he's now going through the process of having it replaced with an implant. For a while he hasn't been able to bite or chew normally, which has made planning Taste Tests and cooking videos surprisingly difficult.

I've found myself trying to invent meals based not just on “Would this make a good video?” but also “Can David actually eat it?”

Thankfully, things are now moving in the right direction. He was a little swollen and sore but he's doing well and we're hoping normal service — and considerably more enthusiastic eating — will resume soon.

So… what happens next?

For the first time in a while, it feels as though we're settling into our new normal.

The American road-trip videos are complete. Alissa is one. Elana is at school. David is getting his smile sorted. And I've finally found my enthusiasm for cooking and filming again.

America might be over for now, but the adventures certainly aren't.

And if this summer taught us anything, it's that two Brits who once wouldn't go anywhere near seafood can apparently be persuaded to eat an alligator.

So frankly, anything could happen next.

Thank you, as always, for coming along for the ride.

Love,

Nakita, David, Elana & Alissa

Mr H & Friends ❤️

Feel free to share your thoughts on this blog or on your experiences of America in the comments.