Sometimes familiarity is good, too.

Elysha, the kids, and I have been on vacation for the past week, We’ve been visiting with friends in Washington, DC, touring museums and monuments, and seeing the sights.

It’s been a lovely trip. Spending time with our friends has been the highlight of the trip, but the novelty has been good, too. Seeing things never seen before is always fun. Watching your children gaze upon the monuments to our country and some of its most remarkable people has been unforgettable.

But routine can also be appreciated. Reminders of home can sometimes make the struggles of travel a lot easier. Knowing that some things are consistent wherever you go can be pretty fantastic, too.

Last night my friend, Kathy, and I went to a Moth StorySLAM at City Winery in Washington DC. Kathy and I would attend Moth events together routinely before she moved to DC, so it was a bit of a return to a tradition that I’ve been missing dearly since she moved earlier this year.

I’ve never been to a Moth StorySLAM in Washington DC before. I’ve competed in 98 StorySLAMs over the past decade (and attended many, many more), but only in New York City, Boston, and once in Seattle.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I climbed the stairs and entered the venue.

Of course, I should’ve known what to expect, because other than some cosmetic differences, it was no different than attending any other Moth StorySLAM:

An entertaining host guided us through the night. Storytellers took the stage and entertained us with stories about their lives. Some of the stories were brilliantly crafted. The audience was enthusiastic, generous, and appreciative, as Moth audiences tend to be.

But the little things were the same, too. The unspoken communication that Kathy and I share as a story is being told. The conversation we enjoyed with our tablemates, who included a man who grew up in the Boston area and shared a great deal in common with me. The kind words of audience members following the telling of a story.

Even more shocking, I knew someone in the audience, which happens a lot in New York and Boston, but I didn’t expect it to happen in DC. After telling my story, I was approached by a young woman who had attended one of my summer camp workshops at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut years before. In fact, the only Moth event she had ever attended prior to this night was the StorySLAM in Boston that I had brought her to as a camper years ago.

She couldn’t believe it when I took the stage to perform.

I also knew one of the other storytellers performing that night, having shared a stage with him in the past.

Even though I was 300 miles from home, in a venue I had never seen before, it felt just like home.

Novelty is lovely. Seeing and experiencing new things is joyous and fun. But it’s also good to learn that wherever you go in this country, some things remain the same. I like to think that we travel to see new things, but we also leave home to understand that regardless of your locale, people are the same wherever you go. Despite geography and climate and distance, some things are always the same.

I won the Moth StorySLAM last night, which meant Kathy and I celebrated in the way we have always celebrated:

French fries at McDonald’s.

It turns out that this, too, was exactly like every other city where I have performed:

Salty, celebratory goodness in a red carton.