Expat Diaries: Home Away from Home

All expats feel torn between the homes they left in their native land and the homes they've created in their chosen countries.  It's the blessing and the curse of living in different places, especially in different cultures; you always leave part of yourself behind and take along a piece of where you've been to your next destination.  Eventually, expats create their own definitions of "home," definitions that are fluid and flexible - Amanda wrote a beautiful post about this on Belinda's blog recently.

For me, home is three places: Washington, New York, and London.  (I lived in Paris for eight months, when I was in college, but I've visited about half a dozen times since I left and never once felt like I was returning home, so I'm not counting it.)  I always feel a pull towards the other two whenever I'm in one of the three places, and it's sad and confusing and frustrating.  That's one of the reasons I love visiting Suffolk, where Jon grew up.  Regardless of where home is, the part of England that my future in-laws live in feels like my home away from home.

Jon and I have been together for nearly five years and my first visit to meet the parents happened after we'd only been dating for three weeks.  Since then, they've opened their home to me unequivocally and have wholeheartedly brought me into their family.  We did see them occasionally in London, but my favorite memories are of taking the train from Liverpool Street Station eastwards, passing the Olympic Village in its various states of preparation or dismantlement, crossing over the M25, and chugging into the countryside, enveloped on either side of the track by fields and, as we got closer to the coast, marshlands.

I'd still get hopelessly lost in the small and winding country lanes if you asked me for directions somewhere, but I know Jon's village and the neighboring towns well, and I could absolutely help you get from the pub to the chip shop to the yacht club in Aldeburgh.  Suffolk doesn't compete with Washington, New York, or London for "home" status, but I love it.  It's where Jon and I have made so many memories together, where I felt like I became part of his family, and where we can always go if we need a comfortable escape.

all photos from July 4, 2013 in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England

linking up with Postcards from Rachel and Lost in Travels