Where is your home?

Is it where your family lives? Is it where you were born? Is it some place you've never been before?

When I was young, we had a desk-top globe. I never realized the power of one of those. Playfully, I would spin the globe as fast as i could, hold my finger out, then randomly stop the spin and vow to visit that place. Whether Kenya or Alaska, the globe gave me, as a youngster, the vision to dream beyond my boundaries about places unfamiliar to me and the small world I lived in.

I've met so many people here in California who have never left the US, or even less, never left California. Then I've met alot of global travelers. The contrast is very stark. For those who haven't traveled outside their hometown, home is very obvious. For the traveler, home is the ground they walk on.

I've been living in the US for half my life. The other half I've lived in Holland. I've done quite a bit of traveling and I'm facing a difficult self-realization issue. I don't know where home is.

At first, home, for me, is where I was born. But then after leaving for so long and then coming back, I've realized that my place of birth is no longer my home. I didn't feeel at home. Although visiting my friends brought me back to the "old" me, I still felt like something was missing. Maybe my absence for so many years has created an ever-widening void inside me where I lost touch with my home. I remember the day, at 13 years old, leaving Holland, my friends, my school, my life. I always knew I'd be back - but I thought I'd be able to feel right back at home. Unfortunately I was wrong.

I had a new life now. Living in the States going to High School and College gave me a new set of friends, a new life, a new home. Then as I got older, I was fortunate enough to travel to quite a few different places.

Now I'm standing at a crucial crossroads. I don't know where home is.

I've been to many places I could imagine myself settling down in for awhile. A foreign country speaking a foreign language poses no barrier. A place so enchanting and captivating that I'd like to spend a few good years of my life celebrating living life. And then move on.

The global traveler has no home. The world is his/her home. Each place is a pitstop. The traveler always looks to the next place he's never been to, hoping to look for something. Look for home, maybe?