Home Is Wherever I’m With You…

Adios, amigo... ¡otro viaje maravilloso contigo!

Well… another arrival and departure of Paul. It doesn’t get easier.

We had an extraordinary five weeks together in Ecuador’s wild playground: traipsing through the rainforest, flying on zip-lines above thundering waterfalls, crisscrossing the Equator, hiking past volcanoes, descending the steepest railroad track in the world, lounging on Pacific Coast beaches, galloping through the tropics on horseback, mountain biking from the Andes to the Amazon — we did it all.

It’s been a transient few months for us. I’ve been living in South America, volunteering and traveling through four countries. Paul has been moving between friends and family and joining me when he can. We have no fixed address since we rented our home.

But we’re not homeless. We’ve long yearned to be free of the hassles and headaches of maintaining a house and being tied down. It has been a long (and arduous) process of letting go.

We’re working to establish a new way of living, one that is freeing but also fleeting. The bonds of living together under one roof become slippery; special care is required to keep our relationship on meaningful footing.

This is new to us. It’s exciting, tricky, bold, and irregular… We’re learning as we craft new ways to engage our interests and passions and each other.

Today as I entered Colombia I was marveling (as usual) at the breathtakingly awesome Andes. And reflecting on my rambling ’round life — now in its fifth month.

The truth is I deeply miss Paul. But I’m also very happy. It puzzles me.

Then as this song popped in my headset the light bulb went off:

Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is wherever I’m with you
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is whenever I’m with you

This feels crazy but it all makes sense.

Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros:

6 thoughts on “Home Is Wherever I’m With You…”

    1. Thanks, @Amy. There are highs and lows in every journey, they are just amplified when you are with someone you love. All part of the poignancy of travel!

    1. Hey @Corrie! I think Paul would have too much fun with you in Cali so wouldn’t come and visit me 😉

      I miss you chica, I can’t wait to see you again. As always we have a lot of catching up to do. I loved seeing you in NYC, we need to make those encounters happen more often.

  1. Peter
    This is so true as each day we travel our new home is that hostel in the Andes or that beach shack in Canoa or anywhere else we hang up our backpacks for a day or two. In these homes we share new friends…adventure…good laughs..all the ingredients to form a bond and a sense of belonging to that place. The fact that it is only a fleeting moment doesn’t matter….it is still our new home.

    1. @Paul, yes our “new home”… what a wonderful thought! It is so much fun being with you, hurry up and get back down here, Colombia (and I) are waiting to welcome you with open arms!

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