“Wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home’, sang Marvin Gaye and Paul Young. For some this means constant moving, others see it as being comfortable where they are. Most of our friends have one key common factor, they have roamed and homed in many countries and cities. Some have one foot in one country and another foot elsewhere. Others are still moving forward addicted to the adrenalin of a new place and space. Many of us have rented and owned different styles of living, including cliches of dingy studios, tiny apartments and large suburban houses. We talk about our ‘traveling furniture’, those pieces that are transported in to four walls to re-create a sense of safety and place. Each move is stressful and requires goodbyes with the hope of a new beginning. Other friends are returning to their original port of departure with different emotions of trepidation, exhilaration and anticipation. Every home offers a safe four walls after going out in to society and engaging with the good, the bad and the ugly. I reflect on this as I visit a past city from my youth, one which has happy memories as we moved countries. It will be a chance to re-frame a part of life as a mental photo of the past and to honour how it has added to the present and future self.
