The Definition of Home + Other Musings of Living Abroad

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I went almost a year without posting in this blog, and now I feel quite bummed about that. For a while I questioned the purpose of this blog, but as a recovering over thinker I now realize it doesn't have to have a purpose as long as I enjoy doing it. So, here I am again :) Happy New Year!

Parque de Monsanto

While I was running the monthly unofficial park run here in Lisbon today I had a spark of creativity for the blog and wondered... what is the definition of home? Is home one place, or can it be multiple places? If home is a place, is it where you were born or where you spent most of your time growing up? Is home the physical house or the city itself? 

 

Praia da Ursa

Maybe it's been on my mind as it's now been over 2 years since we decided to "move" to Portugal, and almost 2 years of living in Lisbon. I use quotations for move because at the time we had planned for it to be a long term trip. Of course, we live here now so it became much more than that. It was a spontaneous decision in the midst of the craziness that was 2020... that changed our lives.

Porto Moniz, Madeira

 As someone who now lives in a place I wasn't born, I think about what home means a lot. To my friends in Lisbon I said "I'm going home for the holidays", to my family in North Carolina I caught myself calling Lisbon home. When Justin and I were in Thailand and Australia last year I called the hotel or the Airbnb for that night home.

Amsterdam

For a while it felt kind of sad, in that nowhere particularly felt like home. Coming back to NC after living in Portugal just felt different, not that it wasn't home any longer but we had changed. Travel inevitably changes you, living abroad even more so. But recently I've considered it more optimistically, maybe it means anywhere can feel like home. And I find that quite comforting :)

Lagos, Algarve

Whatever the definition of home is, it's still wild to me that Lisbon is so familiar now and in some ways feels like home. A city on the other side of the Atlantic that we knew so little about until just two years ago. Through the maze of cobblestone streets I no longer find myself lost, hopping onto the metro with ease without google maps. When the red rooftops and the gleam of the Tejo come into view from my airplane window, it warms my heart. It's a different feeling than seeing the trees of North Carolina, but still emotional.

More than anything the feeling of home here is because of the community, the beautiful friends we've made along the way. The adventures throughout this past year were some of my happiest moments, group travel remains my absolute favorite way to travel! 

Madeira

Algarve

Bday Boxing :)

Living abroad has also given us so many opportunities to share adventures with family and friends who visit us. Whenever I feel sad and I'm missing family, I think about all the extra moments we've had together since Justin and I moved. Since I last posted in October 2021, we were lucky to have even more visitors :)

Justin's Mom & Robby visit! November 2021

Taking on Italy with Chris in June 2022

Mom & Sissy take on Lisbon! July 2022

 

Stephen & Lara visit! August 2022

We may be further away, but I feel it's bonded us to family more than before in some ways. I feel it when we go back to NC now and spend so much extra time with family visiting there as well. Though it still feels strange to be a visitor in a place you grew up.

This past year brought some new adventures far from "home"... Our time in Thailand opened up a whole new world for me, and though it didn't feel like home, it no longer felt like this far away, unfamiliar place. I absolutely fell in love... the food, the scenery, the people, learning how the world works in another part of the world. I was floating in the clear water off Patong beach thinking this is paradise... I could eat green curry, drink mango smoothies and coconut water fresh from the source every day if it were up to me. I hope to write more about this later, with some recommendations too.

Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai

Liveaboard

Phi Phi Islands

From there we found ourselves in a place that has felt like home for a while and isn't a surprise if you read this blog... Australia. We landed in Perth and in the taxi ride to our Airbnb I rolled down the windows and felt such a sense of peace. The air was so fresh, I could hear the familiar and yet unfamiliar sound of the cockatoos and kookaburras... it was the feeling of being back in a place you'd longed to be. We absolutely love the suburb of Fremantle, a beach town in Perth that is quaint and artsy, and everyone is so friendly. Everyone walks or runs near the beach in the morning, and goes back in the evening to witness that gorgeous west coast sunset. The dogs, kids, and adults are all playing in the grass or sand and I don't think there is a place I feel more balanced in terms of nature and city.

 

Open Water Swimming in Freo :)

Plus, this is the only place the quokkas call home :) hehe. And can any beach top the WA ones?? We absolutely loved exploring the Yallingup area south of Perth.

So good to see our old friends again!

One of the many beaches in Yallingup

Heaven is floating in an ocean pool!

 All this gets me thinking I'm a west coast girl and yet, on the ferry from Manly to Sydney, when the harbour came into view with the opera house in all it's glory... I found myself tearing up with happy tears. There's no place quite like it for both of us. There's a pull to be there that neither of us can quite explain. Each time it's the same, and this visit was no different. As I've said before on this blog, if you can be in love with a place for us it will always be Sydney. It's the insanely gorgeous coastline, the lifestyle, nature so close by, the ocean pools, and just the feeling we have when we're there.

Bondi to Coogee Walk

Swimming at Bondi Icebergs!

Sadly, we had to say farewell again to Australia. It's never easy. But we stopped in Singapore & Dubai on the way back home to Lisbon.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

154th Floor of Burj Khalifa, Dubai

Deepest Pool, Dubai

 So, maybe home can be many places for those with a nomadic heart. Each place has become a part of me somehow. Each place has memories that will be imprinted on me forever. I think this is one of the things that bonds us with the friends we've made in Lisbon, we've all lived in other places and share the understanding of home not being one specific place.

Praia da Ursa

Anyway, thanks for listening to my musings :) It's been a wild ride, an unforeseen new chapter, and yet I wouldn't change anything as it's truly been two of the most amazing years of our lives. We've been thrown out of our comfort zone and grown more than we have in a long time. As someone said to me recently, it's one of those things people talk about doing but never actually do. It definitely hasn't been easy, there's been moments of tears, immense stress, and existential crisis. But Justin and I are truly so blessed to have had these adventures, and to share the same passion for seeking them out. And to know that no matter what, wherever the other is, that is the definition of home.

 

Our favorite beach, Algarve

💙

Sarah

"Oh, but you finally feel at home again

Throwing caution to the wind

You were at the start of this waiting to begin

Life is short but you still have some time

Staring at the water line

You could see your whole life right before your eyes

Oh, you feel alive

Feel alive"

~ "For the Coast" by the Satellite Station