concept of home

I will always remember being at school in the States, and telling my roommate, "I'll see you at home," meaning our dorm room. It was a strange idea. This little box I sleep in I just called home?

Now, I find myself doing that with Florence. In the middle of the day I catch myself thinking, "I can't wait to go home and cook dinner tonight."

In my travel writing class, we read a piece called "Defining Travel," and there is a subheading "Home." The essay talks about how our first homes are the houses we grew up in, but over time, that changes. We connect home with our mothers, shelter, comfort, security. I think I've found that here, not necessarily in my actual apartment, well maybe a little, but just Florence in general. Now that it has been over a month, and I am comfortable, but still always aware, I have come to call Florence home.

Thinking back, if you told me a year ago that I would be saying this, I wouldn't take it seriously. It sounds so fantastic, so Romanticized, but it is true. Everyday, I remember this trip as the wonderful opportunity it is.

The chance to call another place home is empowering. Some feel unsettled, but I feel more excited and confident than unsettled. The ability to go somewhere and in a matter of weeks, be adapted enough to call a place home is an amazing quality to have. I think its a great skill. After this experience, I won't be so nervous in a couple short years from now, looking for a job. I won't need to dwell on the place as much, the proximity to home, because home could be anywhere. The major three F's, food, family and friends, can be brought anywhere. Nowadays, we can talk face-to-face with our loved ones online, which is a decent way to stay connected when apart. We can cook home-cooked meals, using recipes our families have given us. Yes, these ideas aren't perfect replicas of home, but they do help us connect. Thats how you build into loving a place, finding some happiness about something unique about the place, and finding some connection to home. For now, that's what I'm living on, and you know what? I truly am having the time of my life, no matter how cliché that sounds.