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What is home? To me, home isn’t a house I grew up in or a specific city, or even a state… it’s an entire region of the United States, usually deemed “the Pacific Northwest”. We moved around a bit as a child. So by the time I left home for college, I’d lived in 11 different cities. From the Seattle area to Eastern Washington, to central Oregon, where we stayed an eternity of four years.
This concept of “home” never struck me as unusual. Until recently, I started feeling like a compulsive liar when telling the same person “Oh, I grew up there!”. But referencing a different city depending on the week or conversation. So these days if I’m asked where I’m from [originally], I say “all over the Northwest”, or short answer, “I’m from Bend, Oregon.”
I’m also fascinated by “home” meaning a specific house. A “home” in the physical sense of the word). It’s interesting to think about being able go back to a house. And visit family and have so many memories and years tied up in one space. At certain times growing up, that’s what I wished I had. But on the other hand, I love that moving a lot gave me a case of early onset wanderlust. Moving can give you a desire to make things happen NOW (as who knows where we’ll be next year). A lover of change and a curious nature. Now maybe there’s a reason to travel with your kids.
Where is home to you?
