What does home mean to me?

What does home mean to me?
The lovely Donna has tagged me to write a little about what home means to me!!  I’ve been meaning to write a post like this for a long time so thanks Donna!!

So, what does home mean to me?

I think that defining what “home” means to me is really difficult!!

I guess it depends on whether I consider “home” to be a place or if it’s people.

I’m the kind of person who uses “home” pretty casually.  Even if we are on holiday somewhere I’ll say “let’s go home” meaning the hotel or apartment we are staying in!
I have called many places home.  But there are only a few places that I would still think of it that way on reflection.

The house I’ve known for the longest is my parents house in Plymouth UK, they’ve had this since I was about 10.  We lived there until I was 17 when we moved to America for 2.5 years.  When we came back we moved back into that house and then I went to University.
Whenever I’m there, I feel at home, but I’m not sure if that’s the house or because I’m there wih my family.  I also always feel really comfortable in Plymouth in general, it’s a city I know well!

I’ve also called San Diego, California home.  I did truly feel at home there as did my whole family.  Moving back to the UK was very hard on us all.
I’ve never actually been back, it’s been around 10 years now.  I’m at a stage now where I am almost afraid to return for a visit.  I know I have rose tinted a lot of things about living there, but I’m not sure if I want to change those memories!

I lived at three different houses while at University, all lots of fun but I don’t think a student house can ever really be home!

Mark and I moved in together once we finished University.  We moved to Northampton and had a nice little flat and then a nice terraced house, while we liked both of them we never really liked Northampton.  We knew we didn’t want to be there long term.  This was the first time I’ve lived away from my parents, as I went to University in Plymouth where they live and I found that really hard.

From there, we moved to the Seychelles.  We have been here for almost three years now.  We’ve lived in two different houses, both of which have felt like home for different reasons.
Our first house was small, mismatched and uncomfy furniture and always boiling hot (even for here!)

What does home mean to me?
BUT it was our first house as a married couple, the house where we started our expat adventure together, and the house where we brought Arthur home to.  For those reasons, despite the downsides of that house it will always have amazing memories for me.
Our second house, is bigger, and generally nicer all round, but we’ve only been here a few months.

 
What does home mean to me?

However, it’s definitely been a game changer for us. Having a closed in garden ment that Arthur can be outside so much more.  There’s a much more homely feeling to this place, I can’t quite put my finger on what that is though! We already have made so many memories here, and It will also be the home we bring Arthur’s baby brother back to so again it will always be special to us for that reason!

Right now, I love calling the Seychelles home.  I think I first knew that for sure when we went back to the UK and I was excited about coming back, I refered to it as home and I really meant it!

I think anyone that has lived as an expat (no matter how long) or has moved around a lot feels differenly about what home means to someone who hasn’t really moved that often (or at all).  It’s inevitable I suppose!
For me it think home can have two meanings.  It can be a place you are happy and comfortable living, but also I think you can feel at home most places if you have the right people with you!
What does home mean to me

What does home mean to you Eline, Laura, and Clara?

Seychelles Mama


17 thoughts on “What does home mean to me?”

  • Ah, that perennial expat question – where, or what, is home! Luckily I already have a post about this as it was something I pondered on my return from our recent holiday – knowing that the next time we returned from somewhere it would be to a different home: http://expatpartnersurvival.com/2015/06/11/a-bittersweet-homecoming/
    I also wrote this post a while ago: http://expatpartnersurvival.com/2015/03/02/home/
    And then there is this one, which is more about the comforts of home: http://expatpartnersurvival.com/2015/06/15/tea-worcester-sauce-baked-beans-what-do-you-take/.
    Can tou see I have been thinking about this a lot?
    Clara recently posted…Show your world: A waterslidingtastic holiday to EgyptMy Profile

  • Thanks so much for joining in. I love this post and will always love the posts you write about the Seychelles. When I was growing up we were quite poor – we lived in a council house and my Dad worked two jobs. It was tough but I never went without. From when the National Lottery started my parents played every week – just one line of numbers. As a family we would dream of winning the lottery and we’d talk about what we’d do if we won. It was always the same – we’d move to a house in the New Forest and we’d go on holiday to the Seychelles – our dream image of paradise.
    It never happened but I still dream of having that holiday one day x
    Donna recently posted…Professor Scrubbingtons Review and GiveawayMy Profile

  • I also call everywhere “home” I am glad someone else does. I often get quizzical looks from family when I say this on holiday, thinking I am not enjoying myself and want to go back “home home”. Home for me is where my Husband and dog is (not sure in which order though- ha).x

  • Home for me is wherever WE are… WE is me and my boys. So when WE are in Taiwan that is home, but the big boys are still in the States so when we are there that is home to. It has nothing to do with the structure or the geography to me. Great post!! Thanks for sharing.
    Laura Wolf recently posted…The Tiny AmericanMy Profile

  • Home is definitely where I lay my hat. For me, having lived in 9 countries and moved more times than I can count in each one, and having no “home” town to go “back” to (parents also travelled for ever!!) if I didn’t consider where I am in the moment as home I literally wouldn’t have one!!! So home for me at this stage in my life is Lou Messugo!
    Phoebe @ Lou Messugo recently posted…Ratatouille – a Nice dishMy Profile

  • A lovely read, and I can relateto an extent as I have also moved plenty of houses/homes. By the way, the house you live in at the moment looks gorgeous! A closed garden really does make such a huge difference with a child! #myexpatfamily
    Zeyna – MOMM recently posted…Is my Baby now a Toddler?My Profile

  • Thanks for the tag, lovely. It’s such an interesting question for us, isn’t it. What with our upcoming move I’ve thought about this a lot, and wrote about a while ago!
    http://www.pastaandpatchwork.com/home/what-makes-home-home
    I love what wrote about your first, mismatched house in the Seychelles. The flat we are leaving here in Milan is the same: ugly furniture and WAY too hot in summer but it is also where we brought M home to as a baby. It’s the only home he’s known, so far, and I’ll always have fond memories of it. Xx
    Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork recently posted…Moving to Sweden | Helping a child deal with a house moveMy Profile

  • I struggle with this question as I moved around within the UK for many years, before moving to the UAE. I think now I’ve built my own little family unit with husband and baby, ‘home’ will be wherever they are. For now, that makes Abu Dhabi home. That said, it amazes me how quickly I switch back into UK life each time I visit. I immediately feel a sense of relief to be back to ‘normal’ as although I’ve lived away for a while it still feels very exotic here in the desert 🙂

  • Lovely, thought provoking piece. As an expat, ‘home’ does come to mean so many different things doesn’t it. I can relate to your comments about your first house in the Seychelles. I felt exactly like that in Hong Kong. The flat was pokey and getting frayed around the edges, cluttered but I cried leaving. It was our first expat home and where we brought Ava home, so huge memories and many emotions. 🙂 x
    Nicole recently posted…Repatriation is Not a Dirty Word!My Profile

  • I wrote about this last year, as we were on the point of selling our house in Edinburgh, in fact I think I linked that post up here?! Before we moved so far, I would have said that Scotland was my home, now I realise that home isn’t bricks and stuff, it’s people and my home is where my family is. That said, I do think that my spiritual home will always be Scotland.
    Sara | mumturnedmom recently posted…Rewind: a last 1st birthdayMy Profile

  • Aww – I’m just like you. Home can be our hotel room on holiday. Home is about being with loved ones, being happy and feeling safe. Lovely post. X

  • Lovely post, and it certainly is one of those eternal expat questions, isn’t it? I’m with you, having moved quite a lot, home is mostly about the people now … if I could only get my little family, my extended family, and my dearest friends all to take up residence on one little island together somewhere, I’d be settled for “home!”
    Cristin @ Between Roots and Wings recently posted…On The 257: A Car Free, Family Friendly Day on the Lower North ShoreMy Profile

  • What a lovely post. It’s funny how you can live somewhere for years and it not feel like home, yet you can move somewhere for a short time and it feels just right. I can’t believe I feel more at home in Brisbane than I did after living in Hampshire for ten years! Sometimes places just click. I think it’s just incredible that you’ve settled over there. I’ve always had a thing about wanting to live on a tropical island as it was a dream my dad always had that rubbed off on me. I guess Australia is really just one giant, tropical island so I guess I have finally achieved it – sort of! I can’t wait for my parents to come out to visit now. x
    Karen @ TalesofaTwinMum recently posted…25 examples of what it’s like being the only girl growing up with two big brothersMy Profile

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