Where are you most at home? Where is your “happy place”?
This blog series is clearly starting out with the interrogatory questions. It feels fitting to move on to the “where” next.
Photo of me with a large leaf (Maple?) covering my face at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver, BC, Canada Jan 2023.
Where we feel most at home could be the place that we actually call home - the place of our birth, where we were raised, or where we currently reside. Or, maybe where we feel most at home is none of those, but a place we’ve visited or long for? I think a lot about home and what it means - I touched on this in a previous blog, and as my left forearm tattoo shares, I feel a sense of home everywhere in the world. I am also working on feeling a sense of home inside - regardless of the location. I do think some of the feeling of landing in a foreign place and walking the streets and noticing that I feel just as comfortable on these streets as streets that are much more familiar to me. And one could argue that derives from a sense of home internally. The external sights, sounds, smells, people, cultures, landscapes can change but the compass of my heart is set on a north star of home, here.
I know many people who feel connected to a sense of home in the place they were born or raised or currently reside (sometimes this place is the same). I admire that, as it’s not something I’ve felt. The childhood house I grew up in has that sense of familiarity and comfort - like a favorite sweatshirt - but I never felt like that town was connected to my soul. I knew from a young age that I wanted to leave and explore. In doing that, I’ve felt “at home” in a small town outside of Florence, in parts of New York City, in Oakland, CA, in New Orleans, LA (for sure), and on various travels walking down roads with my husband - the winding sides of streets in Jamaica, to the wide and mostly empty but for cows and coconut plantations streets of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, the busy streets of Rome, Italy, taking 10 mile walks in São Paulo, Brazil, walking downtown in Cape Town, South Africa, and on hikes in South East Asia, Patagonia, and the American West.
Now we get to the “happy place” question, which again, might be the same as where you were born, raised, or currently live. Perhaps it is a house that conjures up the love and connection of your family and beloveds. Perhaps it is the dance studio or pottery studio where your community gathers around a shared hobby. Perhaps it is that one beach in Mexico that you return to every December. I’d love to know what that is for you!
My happy place is more like places, but they all include the same component. As cheesy as it might sound, they all include my husband with me. Some of the happiest places - anywhere in the South Pacific, really - we spent about half of our 6 week honeymoon (we had no wedding) on a dream trip across South East Asia and the South Pacific and have returned to the South Pacific a few time since. There (imho) is nothing like the clear blue/green water of that part of the world - lagoons protected by motus. You’ll notice in the travel section of this site, some nods to those places. Rome, Italy is also my happy place - hubby and I have been together 4 times since we first visited on a college study abroad (pre-being coupled) and we just adore the city and have walked so many miles in the hugely touristy areas and way outside (Olympic Village anyone? Embassy area anyone? Vatican side of the Tiber but make it hella local? Running path along the Tiber towards the suburbs?). Hiking in the woods/mountains is also a happy place as is snorkeling - that sense of quiet and floating in the magic of sub-surface is just (chef’s kiss). Last happy place - in a beautiful wine region tasting wine - often the lower key areas like the Central Otago, New Zealand, the Okanagen Valley, BC, Canada, Lodi, CA, Walla Walla, Washington, Willamette, Oregon.
What’s your happy place(s)?
