I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself,” said the poet Maya Angelou. I suppose she’s right…we all aspire to a certain comfort in our own skin. I’ve always felt travel encouraged it, in fact.
Still, you have to live somewhere. For eons people lived where they were born. Never mind if they liked it or not. To venture farther afield was to embark on a journey often wrought with hardship: Slow-boat ocean crossings…horse-drawn-carriage caravans…
But no longer. Today we can travel with ease and the ability to remain connected while we do it. It means we needn’t abandon our past to seek out a corner where we feel content—where we’re welcomed, accepted, maybe even celebrated.
It’s broadened the definition of “home.” Today home can be anyplace you feel that sense of ease and belonging. Linda Card, originally from New Jersey, traveled all over Central America but found herself enchanted by Panama’s highlands.
For Gigi Griffis, home turned out to be an alpine town in Switzerland. After two years of full-time travel, she says, she stumbled upon a place where “my whole body relaxed… I couldn’t stop smiling.” So she moved there.
Your home? We endeavor to profile several good options this month…from a lively town in Ecuador’s Amazon…to a foodie haven in France and a variety in between… Read more about the different places you can make home in these articles below.
The spread of the British Empire through trade, colonization, and conquest brought the English language to far-flung corners of the globe. But even as that empire declined and shrank, the language was left behind. And with English becoming the language of business and diplomacy, that influence is in no danger of going away.
For most of history, home was simply where you were born. It was your tribe. Your family. Your community—big or small. It wasn’t really something you chose. But today, you have more freedom to go your own way. You can—more easily than ever—travel the planet and find a place you’re always glad to come back to.