Where Is My Home?

Rover, Wanderer, Nomad, Vagabond, Call me what you will. Lyrics from one of my most favorite songs ever. Extra credit if you can name the song and the band. (Revealed at the end).

This song played over and over through my headphones when I was overseas in the Marine Corps. To me, it epitomized my life in the infantry. Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home. The last verse of the chorus still echoes in my head as we travel abroad now.

I mentioned to Shannon how I get an odd reaction when someone refers to our current lifestyle as a “Vacation.” I feel like it is almost an insult for some reason. I can’t explain why, but I can say why I feel strongly that this is not a vacation, it is our lifestyle. We are Living in these locations.

Vacationers typically stay in any one location for a few days, with some even extending that out to a couple weeks in more tourist attraction concentrated areas like Italy or France for example. They try to cram in as many sites, activities and experiences as possible into that short time. Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa! Zoom, zoom, zoom. They bypass the local citizens, the markets, the grocery stores, small piazzas, and authentic locales in favor of the Instagram famous ones. They cram into buses, trains, or small boats, and follow en masse in a line like ducklings from spot to spot, trying to see as much as possible. Information overload!

Stop and smell the roses.
Our lifestyle of living abroad consists of short stays (few days to a week) in those larger, ‘over-touristed’ locations, sandwiched in between stays of 28-30 days in locations outside the popularized places for vacationers. They are day trip locations or stopovers for that crowd, but we feel they give us a more relaxed experience with the opportunity to absorb the region, the culture and the people.

Our must-do list of sites and activities in our towns are no longer than the 3-5 day vacationer’s list by comparison. Our goal is always to find the local farmer’s market to purchase our groceries every couple days or weekly depending on their frequency. We find our local grocery store, barber/hairdresser, pharmacist, bakery, all the things a new resident would do. We purposely leave at least half our time for spontaneous, small experiences, or for just doing nothing. There are days we literally stay around our home all day, working on the Blog, catching up on phone calls and emails, or just making more plans further on the horizon and talking. Yes. Sometimes we actually sit and talk or play a game of cards or dice together while having a glass of wine. (I still argue that a bottle is one serving).

The number of times we have been out exploring an area and suddenly pivot and go off in another direction, or just stop, sit and observe for an hour are too numerous to recall now.
The sound of music echoing down a narrow street, a unique building/architecture, a piazza or town square with locals interacting, anything can cause us to abandon all other plans at least for a while. We linger. We listen. We try to become involved.

In Lucca, Italy we noticed flyers for and bought tickets for an evening in an ancient cathedral. An opera singer accompanied by the regional orchestra performed after what appeared to be a lengthy interview of a famous composer done all in Italian. We had no idea what was said, but the experience was consumed by us like a gourmet meal.
In Parma, we happened upon a street festival of booths set up with local crafts, a street filled with games for adults and younglings, food trucks, and a live band. It was called a “Slow Life” festival. We slowed to a stop for the entire evening, grabbed some street food and a spot along the low wall nearby and just attended. It was so wonderful we went back a second day for “Slow-Life”. We have dozens of such experiences now that are not in any guidebook or travel agent list.

We even made new, life-long friends in a few of our longer-term stays. We met people at different group gatherings. We went to dinner more than once and even met again in another country with one couple, Patrick and April. We plan to return to see them again too. We are not vacationing. We are living. We are buying our groceries and cooking meals. We are getting haircuts monthly and refilling prescriptions every couple months. We are being noticed by certain shop keepers and wait staff and greeted with waves and smiles even as we just walk past sometimes.

Our home is where we are currently. When are we coming back home? I’m here right now. In two weeks, it will be Nice, France and after that….stay tuned.

Carved upon my stone, My body lies but still I roam. –Metallica. Wherever I May Roam