Friday, October 15, 2010

Where is Home?


I’m home! Back in Italy. But I was also home, back in Oregon. And sometimes I visit home, heading to my childhood haunts in Colorado. This trip has made me stop and ask, where is home? What makes a home? I certainly felt at home these last couple of weeks in Oregon, spending time with friends and being in a familiar town, even though I was staying in a hotel. And it also feels like I’m home now that I’m back in Italy in our apartment with my husband and son and very needy cat.


I was thinking about a few of the sayings about home we Americans have….

Home sweet home.

Home is where you hang your hat.

Home is where the heart is.

I think I can define “home” as any where I feel comfortable and accepted. It’s a feeling, not a place. I carry it with me, across the time zones and oceans and cultures. I find that I have multiple homes, even one here, in the virtual world. What a comforting thought!

With these thoughts on “home” I’m curious – where is your home? How do you define it for yourself?

PS - Wasn't the view I had of the Alps on the way into Milan gorgeous today?

12 comments:

  1. Home to me is wherever my husband and children are, though I will always hold a special place in my heart for Utah!

    Glad you are back and had a safe trip :)

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  2. Gorgeous indeed!!

    In 2001, we sold all of our possessions including our home and headed out on the road. While I felt it was a fabulous adventure (my husband was a little less enthusiastic)I missed having a "home base" and was thrilled to come back to San Diego almost a year later to be amongst people that I had a history with. Something very comforting about that. We still talk about moving other places, but are afraid we would miss the familiarity that we have become so used to. Harder as we get older I think..... Glad you are back safe and sound and enjoying the comforts of home!!

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  3. Home doesn't necessarily have to be a certain location, but it often is, I think. My home is NorCal as well as Germany. The other two countries I lived in - Taiwan and Austria - never became home. Where my husband and my daughter are is home. Where my friends are is home. Conveniently currently in the same place! :-) Welcome back!

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  4. I think of the town I grew up as my sentimental home, but I think I am like a turtle who carries my home with me wherever I go. I've only lived in three states, though--all in the upper midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota) so the surroundings have been similar even when I moved away from friends and family. Maybe home is a region with definite seasons for me. :)

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  5. I have the hardest time answering the question, where is your home? I never know which of the three options I should use: the place I spent most of my time, which is usually where I am assigned to work, but is just temporary (I just finished up nearly a year in Kentucky.) My actual home, a house I own, which is where all my stuff is, but where I don't spend a ton of time. Or my hometown, which is where my legal address is (mostly so my parents can watch for mail while I'm traveling.) In the end I think I'm lucky, because I've found home in all of these places.

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  6. oh boy this is the age old question isn't it? while backpacking alone through south east asia home was not only my backpack but my heart. I had few connections through internet - there was no blog or facebook back then I only had small jaunts and reminders of people who loved me - every once and a while to bring me back to my "home". I found through that trip something that I carry with me still today. that I had to be ok with myself and feel that I was enough in order to feel at home wherever I am. the nice comforts of familiar aren't as important as being ok with me. just as I am.
    cheesy yes, but true but my home is indeed right up my own heart.

    xox. i like you ~m

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  7. It is definitely not where I get my mail. It is in the fields that I walk with my dogs, in the trees I climb with my boys, and in the country where I sleep like a baby. :)

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  8. Home is anywhere my family is.
    Fantastic shot!!!

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  9. Home is where I can relax and recharge.
    And yes, we most definitely can have more than one home.

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  10. Kat, how do you get to travel so much? I wish I could do what you do!!

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  11. I used to think home was the upper Midwest. But then slowly those ties were broken. Then for many years I was certain that home would forever be a ranch on the CO prairie. Certain. But now home is in a tiny German village perched on a peak in the forest. For now...

    I know we are never going to set down permanent roots while we have ten kids spreading out around the world and that is ok too. Heaven is our home. This is all just current stomping grounds ; D

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  12. Home is with my husband and son. I realized that a couple of years ago when we were driving across the country on Thanksgiving Day. Just the three of us, packed into the car, and I felt more at home than I ever had before.

    Sometimes your photos bring a little lump to my throat and possibly make my eyes a bit watery. This is one of those times. So amazing.

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