Home is: friends, family, and food. Home is hammocks, heat, and happiness; beer, bikinis, and books; sun, sand, and smiles. Above all, home is fluid.
My home is the one point that I have always come back to. Between the 7 countries I have lived in and 45 countries I have explored, home is the one place I will always return. The place with the memories from as early as I can remember, the place with my family always ready to welcome me back, the only place with pencil marks on an otherwise innocent white wall, marking my growth throughout my life. Some growth is easier to measure than others.
But, through all of this, my home is just as fluid as any of my travels. The house we have had for almost two decades has grown up with us: every time I return my parents have added something here, changed something there - much like the subtle differences in myself that develop between each return.
The friends I have had for my whole life have grown, changed, left, returned, developed and created.
And the country. My country has changed more in my lifetime than I have. It has gone from young and naive to grown and misguided, from safe to dangerous, from corrupt to criminal and back again. But like any growing adult, it has learned. It has flourished and impressed and improved as much as it has struggled. And we keep moving forward. 53 short years of independence cannot be expected to shape the perfect country, but we can - and we do! - continue to try.
My home has taught me more than any far off land ever could, has welcomed me back with more love and positivity than anywhere else in the world, and has shaped me into the person I am today.
For all the things you see and do... never forget the restorative powers of home.
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