Home: My life at 30.

Home is a word that doesn't really mean anything to me. Since I turned 18, I have lived in 11 places in three countries. Home, to me, is usually wherever I happen to be.

As a result, I can feel at home in a lot of places. Reykjavik was beyond brilliant*, Boston was as awesome as I remember. Even S.P's neighbourhood in NYC was somewhere I could feel at home given a month or two. And really, what it comes down to, is how a city feels. I've visited cities I could live in and cities I couldn't. I've *lived* in cities I could live in and cities I couldn't. 

I'm beginning to realize that while I have nothing to show for my 30 years like some of my friends, I have things that are far more intangible that I think make me richer. I may not have one home, but I have travelled more than most of my peers; I have friends in 22 countries and 26 states on 5 continents who I would visit without a second thought given half a chance. What many of them have in a house or a Lexus or an iPhone or whatever, I have in memories and passport stamps and photographs and the amount of quality beer I've consumed. And if we're being honest, I think that I would always choose those intangibles over what they have. They chose to have something they can touch, I chose to have something I will always have. In 20 years, will I care that today I can't afford an iPhone? No. Because instead of buying an iPhone, I went to Jordan and slept in the red desert.

I am okay. I don't need a house; I needed Hungary.

*I loved Reykjavik and while it's true I was there during the midnight sun, it's a city I think I could live in. Unlike a lot of the other visitors I met (honeymooners, students who were there for two months, random other strangers), I had no problem with the constant daylight. I suspect this is because of my natural schedule where it's often getting light before I go to bed. I really, really enjoyed Iceland. It's a gorgeous country and the people were some of the best I've ever met. Icelanders are incredibly friendly, warm people and being that I was travelling alone, that was really awesome!