”I’m homesick all the time,” she said, still not looking at him “I just don’t know where home is. There’s this promise of happiness out there. I know it. I even feel it sometimes. But it’s like chasing the moon – just when I think I have it, it disappears into the horizon. I grieve and try to move on, but then the damn thing comes back the next night, giving me hope of catching it all over again.”
— Sarah Addison Allen (The Girl Who Chased the Moon)
Sarah Addison in the quote above from her book The Girl Who Chased the moon, shows what it is like when the idea of home is not the average person's idea of home. Home is not a house with a picket fence, but instead it could be a street filled with strangers or a hostel in Brussels. Home to the adventurer is not obsolete. Travlers of this type follow their heart or, in the case of Sarah Addison Allen's book, they follow the moon. Following the heart when one travels will leave your body aching for more adventure and will make you miss places and people you have never met.
I am homesick for a place I've never been because the world is so much larger than we know. Living in a foreign country is exciting and enthralling, you have only yourself to depend on and the idea of being completely independent is why I am homesick for a place I've never been.
Getting lost in the twisted streets or making friends with a fellow traveler while being in new place means new memories and more chances for one to further understand who you are at your core. When you are in a new place, you have to adjust to the culture, making you a person who can adapt to new surroundings which is an amazing quality to have. It does not only make you adaptable, but it makes you smarter and more understanding of others.
The idea of adventure and finding new places to help make one grow more is why people who love to get lost finding themselves are always obsessing over a new place they have never been too, because the idea of adventure is what makes their heart pound. When you are abroad, you are helpless; you are alone and you are able to take time to think about what really makes you love life. You desire to chase the meaning of life and continue to lust for these places because exploring means widening your intelligence without the need to open a book.
The ones who strive to explore a new place are the ones who find that experiences teach you more than a book. The idea of jumping on a plane without knowing where you may be going would make the average traveler a little nervous, however it excites the one who has no true home.
Home is not home, home is wherever they feel truly happy and where one can feel like they can be themselves, whether that be dancing on a beach in Bali, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, wandering the streets of Budapest or sailing the Croatian coast, home is wherever they feel the most happiness, because home could be anywhere.
