The Road Home

"We look to our buildings to hold us, like a kind of psychological mould, to a helpful vision of ourselves ... Our love of home is in turn an acknowledgement of the degree to which our identity is not self-determined. We need a home in the psychological sense as much as we need in the physical: to compensate for a vulnerability. We need a refuge to shore up our states of mind, because so much of the world is opposed to our allegiances".

Alain De Boton: The Architecture of Happiness

True. When you feel vulnerable home is the only place to be. When feeling confident and adventurous the desire to travel enables you to leave home behind. If you've ever been stranded whilst travelling you will know the reality of this. In 2010 we were coming home from Australia and got as far as the transit lounge at Singapore when the Icelandic volcano blew. We were stuck halfway home for a week, terribly anxious that we might be there for a lot longer, and with two teenagers at home desperate for our return. Airport floors and then hotels, even nice ones, did nothing for us. The fact that we were surrounded by the trappings of a popular tourist destination did nothing for us either.

Being trapped somewhere nice is not as attractive as being free anywhere else. We just wanted to get back to the familiar mould of home.

Took this blip through the car window, having left work forty five minutes after arriving and feeling groggy and tired. Came home and slept and did some work but generally not at all with it. Home was where I needed to be... Made the kittens happy anyway. They love company.