Travel Linkup: Home
Kohimarama Beach, Auckland, New Zealand
Home. Where for out thou home?
Ummm… I thought it was London for awhile (well close to 5 years)… but really I knew it was always New Zealand… but now that I’m back, ‘home’ seems a bit of a foreign word to me.
What is home?
My backpacks pre-Africa/South America journey back to NZ
Is home a dwelling where all your belongings are?
Well I’m living a bit of a minimalist lifestyle these days with flatmates in a place I don’t own, so I wouldn’t really say that fits the bill. Each time I get something added to my room I get a twinge… that’s one more possession that makes it a tiny bit harder to move.
Is home where your family is?
My ‘family’ cross over about 5 different cities, anywhere from 3-5 hours away and they all have their own families so not sure that quiet works as a ‘home’ for me either. I’m lucky if I see some members of my family once every 2-3 months, some it’s more like once every 6 months!
Is home where your friends are?
Nope. Most of my friends live all over the world. Seems if home is where my friends are then that must mean the internet or phone, because they are the main mode of communication these days… though I am lucky to still have a few buddies here for coffees!
Home is where the heart is… where’s that?
Good question right?
Mt. Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, NZ
I think if I’m honest I’ve had lots of homes and yet no real ‘homes’ since I was a kid. I have people I love and care about all over the world and feel like I have homely twangs when I’m in a number of different countries. From the friendly bloggers in London that I dream about afternoon teas with, to the little cute Swedish/Lithuanian family in a pink house in Stockholm… to the wild and open nature of Africa to the entertaining variety of people in America I claim as friends.
The Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson Hotel
Ice breaking apart in a lake in Stockholm, Sweden during my first visit in 2010
Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya
I don’t think I really have a ‘home’ anymore, but I think I have so much more than that. I have the world at my fingertips. I am free to go anywhere I want. Yes, New Zealand is my current base and I have the beginnings of a life here, it will always have a strong pull of culture, people and lifestyle that makes it homely, but home doesn’t need to be one place anymore.
Home can be wherever your heart (and journey) takes you.
Me on the boat in the Pampas, Bolivia
Great definition of ‘home’! It can definitely be a whole range of places at once 🙂
Yer well that’s the explanation that gets me through the return to NZ at least!
“Homely twangs” – haha! Traveling does really change the concept of home for you.
It does doesn’t it? I wonder sometimes what it’d feel like to stay I one place with no plans to leave!
Lovely post! It’s really interesting to read about what ‘home’ means to different people, and also how it can be many places 🙂
Love your definition of home as wherever your heart’s journey takes you. #travellinkup
I love this Ngaire – where your heart’s journey takes you is such a beautiful way of expressing it! Thanks for joining in the Linkup 🙂
love your definition of home:)
my heart jumps whenever I love a new place we visit, but it always wants to be at home too!
Lovely post! Favourite quote –
Home can be wherever your heart (and journey) takes you.
Thanks for reading! Yes I think that’s a great quote for anyone who’s a bit of a nomad!
“Home” can be so hard to define!
Feels that way at the moment!
Sounds a bit similar to my post. The world is our home! (Also, how amazing is the Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea?!)
Totally, think I’d feel lost if I wasn’t able to travel! Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea was awesome!!! Totally miss London Afternoon Teas!