Tag: daily prompt

Daily Prompt: There’s No Place Like Home

Sunset In Barbuda
Sunset In Barbuda

I don’t do a lot of Daily Prompts, but this one was an interesting one, so here goes.  The questions presented are:

If you had the opportunity to live a nomadic life, travelling from place to place, would you do it? Do you need a home base? What makes a place “home” to you?

We have been considering various retirement options as we approach that juncture of our life. When we ponder, we usually come up with some variation of the nomadic lifestyle.  Whether it be renting apartments in various cities around the world and explore, or buy a sailboat and do things in that way, it always ends with that conversation.  We are slowly lurching along a committed path to do some variation, with the sailing usually ending at the top and the apartment concept as a fall back.  We have always been a bit nomadic in our life, living in 7 cities over the years, and we travel well together, usually just the two of us. So the answer to would you do it is a resounding yes.

Inside Passage, Alaska
Inside Passage, Alaska

The idea of living on a boat can be a traumatic thought to some.  The space is small, yes, but, you technically always have a place to call home.  Technically speaking, it is a mobile home base.  A home base to us, is a complete necessity.  When we go places now, we tend to book a B&B or apartment for a week and fan out from there.  This works well in Europe as the transportation systems are usually impeccable and heading out and getting back is usually quite simple.  It also beats lugging a lot of suitcases everywhere you go.  Grabbing a backpack and heading out is the only way to go.  To attach this theory to a sailboat is a simple stretch.  Dock in a marina and head out.  The difference is that you could go further with no need to return every night.  Once again, the answer to needing a home base, an emphatic yes.

A Possible Home
A Possible Home

What makes a place home to us is fairly simple.  It comes down to personal space and stuff.  The touches and familiarity can cushion the fact that home would generally be quite far away.  Stuff is important as well as they tell you that you are in your own space and you always have what you need close at hand.  Think of clothes, bicycles, golf clubs, dishes, nick-knacks.  You see reminders that you are in your own space, that you have everything you need and have a connection to it.

To sum up, there is no place like home, however, with the right touch, you can definitely take home with you.

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