Since I moved away from Tenerife 9 years ago, I’ve lived in 9 apartments, in 6 different cities in 3 countries. The longest I have stayed in one apartment has (unfortunately) only been two years. I’m used to change and adapt quickly to new environments.
I’ve always seen change as an exciting factor of my life. My life outside of Tenerife has been full of end dates and new beginnings – some of them were real, and others I simply set in my head.
Change has kept me from settling down. It has continuously given me the feeling of being an explorer instead of part of the new community.
I was an exchange student in Germany and an expat in Switzerland. As much as I’d like to, I can’t call any of these countries home.
Home is where I know the streets, where I feel safe. It’s where friends and family greet my return. Where time can pass by, but whats important will still remain the same. It’s that place that, as soon as you arrive, you feel as if you had never left.
Home is Tenerife – where my family lives. Where I grew up and went to school. It´s where I know where and what I want to have for dinner before landing at the airport. The place that makes me cry each time I have to leave.
But Home, for me, is also Madrid – where my friends reside. Even though I’ve only lived in Madrid for 4 years, it really got under my skin. I fell in love with the city (despite it being far from the ocean!). This wouldn’t have been the case if I hadn’t met my friends – who adopted me as an outsider and treated me as a madrileña. Soon I realized that, while school friends who had also decided to study in Madrid returned back home the same day they wrote their last exam, I was staying a couple more days or eventually returning in the middle of summer holidays. Madrid is the place I want to return to some time in the future. It’s where I see myself settling down.
It is comforting to have the feeling of home-coming in two different places. I guess it makes it easier to deal with home sickness – I have the choice of 4 major airports of departure and 2 (highly demanded) destinations. There will always be an easy escape.
Note: I escaped to Tenerife and Madrid a couple of weekends back and should now have enough energy to start posting about London.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I know the feeling. I always have mixed feelings when I head home to DC from wherever I am (last time it was from Amsterdam, this time from Melbourne, but it won’ t be until at least next November that I’m headed home to visit). I simultaneously feel so at home there with family and friends – it just clicks instantly. And yet in the same breath, I haven’t lived there in years, so I feel just that small bit separated.
It sounds like ultimately we are both lucky that home is in more than one place, and both are great locations to reside. I know there’ll come a day when I have to make the choice of where to settle, though. In comes that mix of emotions again!
Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice recently posted..Mom’s Arabic Fruit Salad
Oh I know what you’re talking about! When time comes to settle, we’ll have to choose… people keep on telling me that they know I´d choose Tenerife, ’cause that’s that *everybody* does… but given that both are not that far of each other (definitely much nearer than Melbourne and DC!)… I’m not that sure about it!
Beautiful post and I can just say how jealous I am that your home is Tenerife!
Andi of My Beautiful Adventures recently posted..Andi’s Pick: Wild Dunes Resort
Thanks Andi! It IS a nice place to live… :)
we love this and can completely relate! neither one of us has consistently lived at home in years (since graduating high school, really), and it wasn’t until we left that we realized how much we loved where we grew up. excited to read more about your experiences in london! xo
thelazytravelers recently posted..no travel required
Somehow, we don’t really know what we’ve actually got until we don’t have it (that near) anymore, right?
It’s funny how some place feel comfortable right away, how sometimes coming back to a city is like slipping on a old worn-out and comfortable pair of jeans, isn’t it?
Home isn’t always where you spent the most time, it’s where friends and good memories are :-)
Yes, I completely agree with you!
I didn’t like my natural home so much. Too many memories of being stuck from growing up. I feel Freiburg, if not Germany as a whole, is my home now. I feel comfortable here and enjoy returning.
Andrew recently posted..Ups and Downs of Montmarte
Wow, that’s amazing! You really have got into the culture up to the point of feeling at home… congrats! It’s not easy when it’s a different country and culture (and language!).
I haven’t moved around as much as you, but I’m more of a “home is who you’re with” type of gal. You do make me miss the very short time I lived in Madrid though! Do some posts on there please!
Meri recently posted..What’s in store…
Oh Madrid… I should try and search for some pictures – I tend not to take pics when I’m there (well, only of really good food haha!). Will try to work out some posts though ;)
OMG. I can sooooo relate to the moving, moving, moving. I’d only begun reading this post and thought, “Is this my life?” Nice blog!
Love this post – it’s like a love letter for your home. Thanks for sharing it definitely put a smile on my face!