do you ever arrive somewhere and feel like you could stay?
not just because it’s beautiful or because you’re having a lovely holiday.
there’s something about it that feels familiar. you feel comfortable there. you start thinking about coming back before you’ve even left.
i’ve travelled to 81 countries. there are a few places that have really stayed with me.
central australia. narrabri. italy. colombia. western australia.
a little inconvenient that they’re so far apart. but here we are.
central australia and hermannsburg
central australia does something to me.
the colours. the space. that enormous sky.
i can look at it for ages. i don’t get tired of it.
hermannsburg is one of those places i feel a connection to that i struggle to explain properly. i can tell you what it looks like, but that doesn’t really cover what i mean.
then i listen to shane nicholson’s song hermannsburg and think, how incredible that someone else can feel something here too.
that always amazes me.
someone else has arrived with their own life going on and been moved enough by the place to write a song about it.
i listen and recognise something.
i don’t know whether we’ve felt exactly the same thing. probably not. but hearing someone put words and music to a place that means something to you is quite special.
it makes me feel a little less ridiculous about getting emotional over a landscape.
narrabri and the big open skies
i love the skies around narrabri.
you can see so much of them. that sounds like a very obvious observation until you’ve spent too long looking at a screen and realise how good it feels to look at something that big.
i love being able to see a long way. watch the light change. just stand there for a bit.
there’s something about that space that makes me feel good.
i don’t need a whole day planned. i’m quite happy with a coffee and a big sky.
preferably a good coffee. i haven’t completely abandoned my standards.
italy
italy feels familiar in a different way.
i spent three years working as a tour guide in europe. that part of the world holds so much of my life.
italy is somewhere i keep wanting more time in.
time to walk around. eat something lovely. sit down for a drink. enjoy being there without trying to fit everything into one day.
i miss it when i haven’t been back.
there are places you visit and feel happy to tick off. i don’t feel finished with italy. i’m not sure i ever will.
colombia
colombia stayed with me too.
it’s a long way from my everyday life, yet it belongs on this list.
that’s what i find so interesting about travel. you can go somewhere that should feel completely unfamiliar and find yourself feeling really comfortable there.
you want more time. you want to come back. you find yourself thinking about it long after you’ve left.
i don’t have a particularly clever explanation for colombia.
i just know it meant something to me.
sometimes that’s enough.
western australia
western australia reminds me of my eight months travelling around australia alone in a swag.
i think about being on the road. making coffee. setting up for the night. deciding where i wanted to go next.
i loved having that freedom.
there was plenty to work out along the way, but there was also so much time outside. so much space. so many moments where i was glad i’d gone.
western australia brings me back to that part of my life.
i miss the places. i also miss being there as that version of me.
the world is my home
i think this is the best thing about travel.
you keep finding places and people that become part of your heart. somewhere you didn’t know existed can end up feeling like home. someone you hadn’t met can become a person you miss.
you leave little pieces of yourself everywhere. you take pieces of those places and people with you too.
that’s how i feel about central australia, narrabri, italy, colombia and western australia. they all mean something different to me. they all feel like somewhere i belong.
i don’t think i need to choose just one.
the world is my home.
which does make popping home a little more expensive than i’d like.