Home Sweet Home

They say that there’s no place like home. And if that’s true there is definitely no place like home at Christmas.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to be able to have a Kiwi Christmas again, so much so that I felt a little guilty about it. I mean, my two “orphan” Christmases in Barcelona and New York were UNBELIEVABLE, and exceeded any expectations I could have had, so it wasn’t like I was desperate for a good time or anything. But the silly season is by far my favourite time of year, and while it is loads of fun to experience it in a different hemisphere and see how they do it in winter, I was well and truly ready to head home.

It’s funny, I’ve had two trips home since I first moved overseas in September 2014, but somehow this one felt different. Perhaps it’s because the other two trips were whirlwinds involving weddings and a new job and preparing to move to new countries, whereas this one was simply about Christmas. Whatever it was, my time back in little old Waiuku felt slightly different, in the best possible way.

I realised that going home realigns you.

I’m a firm believer in the benefits of getting out of your comfort zone and spreading your wings, and I absolutely love it. But I’ve also come to recognise the benefits of returning home every now and then, immersing yourself in some familiarity and essentially hitting the ‘reset’ button. And an added bonus is being able to say “deck” without people looking at you funny.

There’s something special about being at home. You sort of become ageless… You can be the child that played monopoly at your friends’ beach house, or the adult who is holding down a full time job and dealing with endless emails. You can be the child running into your parents’ bedroom on Christmas morning (yes, I did do that), or the daughter who gets brought a cup of tea and a gingernut in bed, before Mum and Dad head off to work. And because home is so familiar, and the people are so familiar and, despite your absence, you are still so familiar, while your successes and adventures are talked about, you can never get too big for your boots. Being the child that comes home making a big entrance once a year certainly doesn’t mean you’re exempt from having the mickey taken out of you, that’s for sure.

Being home has the ability to transport you, to take you back to a time in your life you mightn’t think much of any more. Like when you are reminded of the clothes that you still had in your closet that make you simply cringe. Or when you see the canvas of a red London bus on your wall and remember when you bought that to inspire you to work harder to get to England the first time.

I did the maths, and it’s been 859 days since I first headed overseas, of which just 57 I’ve spent back in NZ. Sounds like a lot when you put it into days, doesn’t it? So it’s no wonder that when I return home now I appreciate everything, even smiling at the things that at one time would have driven me crazy. (I’m not going to give examples though, that could get me into trouble.) But you see the thing about travelling (or whatever it is you call it that I’m doing) is that it gives you such a sense of perspective that life won’t give you any other way.

I think it does take leaving and living away to realise the true meaning of “home” (or at least my true meaning). And while the farewells are bloody hard, and you want to pause time so you can stay that child for just a little longer, in reality you know that you have to leave so that you can come back and appreciate it all over again.

But deep and meaningful thoughts aside, my time at home was simply perfect (there’s that new found perspective coming in to play). It is almost impossible to see and catch up with all the people you want to, but I spent time with my fair share. I was welcomed home by family, neighbours and good friends, who for an evening made me forget that jet lag existed. I got to visit two of my favourite spots in the country (Stratford and Port Charles), and of course ate plenty and certainly drank enough. Oh, and I hung out with Mum, Dad and my big brother too.

I’m so lucky to have a home and the people that go with it that make it so hard to leave, and while I’ve always known that not everyone in this world is so fortunate, I appreciate it so much more now.

So I’ll leave you with the following quote, which I’ve seen many times since I first walked through the departure gates at Auckland International Airport, but only continues to grow with meaning:

“We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic to creativity. When we get home, home is still the same, but something in our minds had changed, and that changes everything.” – Jonah Lehrer

That's all for now,

​Jordyn x