The other night I was chatting to a volunteer from Belgium about travelling, life at home, future plans, and all that good stuff and she asked me if I could ever se myself living back in Canada. This question always gets asked and the reply is quick and to the point – ‘no’. I asked her the same question and she replied that she couldn’t really see herself living anywhere else and that, as much as she wants to travel and see the world, Belgium will always be her base.Her main reason was that she has just a great network of family and friends and if she were to spend years away at a time she would feel like she’d be missing too much. Her answer sort of caught me off guard only because it’s something I had never really thought about.
When I return home after a year or two I am always surprised at how little has really changed. Things seem to tick along like clockwork and I am able to slot right back in to where I left off. Some friends have had babies and bought houses which are pretty major things, but life at home generally feels the same as it did 10 years ago. I don’t feel like things are passing me by if I’m not at home, I tend to feel the opposite. I feel like when I’m stuck at home, things in the rest of the world are passing me by and I can’t wait to get back out there and experience those things… whatever they may be.
I might feel differently if all of my friends were still living at home or if I had neices or nephews there or if a family member was ill but, as of right now, it just doesn’t feel like there’s much I’m missing. Does that sound really harsh? I’m not sure.
Do you feel torn when you travel because there are things going on at home you want to experience and be a part of or are you happy to let life at home keep on ticking on in your absence? Do you see home as a place you’ll return to eventually once you get travelling out of your system or are you happy to keep your time there to short visits and call a new place home?
Leave a Reply