Travelling and being at home
From altfriday5
1. How do you feel about travel? Like it, love it, hate it? Wish you did more or less or neither? Do you have wanderlust? Are you a homebody?
I love travelling, especially by plane although other means of transport are good too. I like planes because most of the airlines I usually travel on still serve food, so I get the feeling of being pampered. I can just sit in my seat and relax while having food served at regular intervals without my lifting a finger, and then at the end of the flight I step off the plane into some new place. Getting on a plane fills me with anticipation. I wouldn't say that I've got wanderlust, but I love the feeling of stepping out of my usual life and going somewhere different for a while. I'm not really a homebody, yet I do enjoy spending time by myself at home.
2. What's the furthest you've ever been from home (whatever that means to you) in terms of physical distance? How about culturally?
The furthest I've been from home physically is almost the exact opposite point on the globe from where I live. I don't think it would be possible to get further away. Paradoxically, the furthest I've been from home culturally is Indonesia, which is only about 4 hours flying time from where I live.
3. Are there places you'd like to go but haven't? What's appealing about them?
I'd quite like to see the Himalayas, and I'd also like to see more of Europe - places like Holland, Switzerland, and Italy all appeal to me for different reasons. I'd like to visit Holland because of its canals, architecture, and bicycles; I want to see the mountains of Switzerland; and the architecture of Rome would interest me because I've seen the Italian influence in Fremantle and I like it.
4. Are there places you return to? Are there places you return to because you want to?
There are places I return to because I've got friends there and there are places I return to because I've got family there, but they are also places I like for their visual appeal as well.
5. Travel is often associated with things like self-discovery and identity formation. Does it work this way for you? Why or why not?
I think the time I spent in Indonesia was for me a time of identity formation as an Australian, because the culture was so extremely different from what I knew. I also think the times I've spent in the US have strengthened my identity as an Australian, as I've discovered the subtle and not so subtle differences between US and Australian culture. It's a feeling of "Oh, that (moral stance, food preference, joke, etc) is American - and I don't identify with it." However, not all travel has this effect. I don't think it was so strong when I was in London, although maybe that's because I've only been there twice, for only a few days each time. In fact, even though London is very different from Perth, I actually had something of a sense of coming home when I was there, because so much of the landscape of London is familiar to me from books and history, and because my distant ancestors were British.
Lately I've been thinking about what makes me feel at home somewhere. I've been reading about people moving from the US to Australia to live who are shipping all of their possessions so that they will feel at home in Australia, and I can't imagine doing that. I don't seem to need familiar possessions in order to feel at home. I just need to be able to live a similar lifestyle (by which I mean do similar things, not necessarily have possessions of a similar standard), have a small corner that is my personal space, and be with someone I love, and I can be comfortable and content. When we lived in Indonesia for 6 years we didn't take anything from Australia except clothes and a few small personal possessions; we furnished our home by buying locally, and made the house ours just by living in it. When we moved to another state after moving home from Indonesia, we lived in houses that were already partly furnished as we didn’t own any furniture yet ourselves, having come back from Indonesia with, again, just clothes and a few small personal items, but again, we made the houses ours by living in them. When I come here to the US I feel at home in S's house because she is here and because I can do the same things here as I would be doing at home in Australia, although it's a bit different because when I'm here I know it's only for a couple of months. I don't think it will be any different if I get to move here for two years as a student, though. I plan to just bring whatever I am allowed to bring with me on a plane.
1. How do you feel about travel? Like it, love it, hate it? Wish you did more or less or neither? Do you have wanderlust? Are you a homebody?
I love travelling, especially by plane although other means of transport are good too. I like planes because most of the airlines I usually travel on still serve food, so I get the feeling of being pampered. I can just sit in my seat and relax while having food served at regular intervals without my lifting a finger, and then at the end of the flight I step off the plane into some new place. Getting on a plane fills me with anticipation. I wouldn't say that I've got wanderlust, but I love the feeling of stepping out of my usual life and going somewhere different for a while. I'm not really a homebody, yet I do enjoy spending time by myself at home.
2. What's the furthest you've ever been from home (whatever that means to you) in terms of physical distance? How about culturally?
The furthest I've been from home physically is almost the exact opposite point on the globe from where I live. I don't think it would be possible to get further away. Paradoxically, the furthest I've been from home culturally is Indonesia, which is only about 4 hours flying time from where I live.
3. Are there places you'd like to go but haven't? What's appealing about them?
I'd quite like to see the Himalayas, and I'd also like to see more of Europe - places like Holland, Switzerland, and Italy all appeal to me for different reasons. I'd like to visit Holland because of its canals, architecture, and bicycles; I want to see the mountains of Switzerland; and the architecture of Rome would interest me because I've seen the Italian influence in Fremantle and I like it.
4. Are there places you return to? Are there places you return to because you want to?
There are places I return to because I've got friends there and there are places I return to because I've got family there, but they are also places I like for their visual appeal as well.
5. Travel is often associated with things like self-discovery and identity formation. Does it work this way for you? Why or why not?
I think the time I spent in Indonesia was for me a time of identity formation as an Australian, because the culture was so extremely different from what I knew. I also think the times I've spent in the US have strengthened my identity as an Australian, as I've discovered the subtle and not so subtle differences between US and Australian culture. It's a feeling of "Oh, that (moral stance, food preference, joke, etc) is American - and I don't identify with it." However, not all travel has this effect. I don't think it was so strong when I was in London, although maybe that's because I've only been there twice, for only a few days each time. In fact, even though London is very different from Perth, I actually had something of a sense of coming home when I was there, because so much of the landscape of London is familiar to me from books and history, and because my distant ancestors were British.
Lately I've been thinking about what makes me feel at home somewhere. I've been reading about people moving from the US to Australia to live who are shipping all of their possessions so that they will feel at home in Australia, and I can't imagine doing that. I don't seem to need familiar possessions in order to feel at home. I just need to be able to live a similar lifestyle (by which I mean do similar things, not necessarily have possessions of a similar standard), have a small corner that is my personal space, and be with someone I love, and I can be comfortable and content. When we lived in Indonesia for 6 years we didn't take anything from Australia except clothes and a few small personal possessions; we furnished our home by buying locally, and made the house ours just by living in it. When we moved to another state after moving home from Indonesia, we lived in houses that were already partly furnished as we didn’t own any furniture yet ourselves, having come back from Indonesia with, again, just clothes and a few small personal items, but again, we made the houses ours by living in them. When I come here to the US I feel at home in S's house because she is here and because I can do the same things here as I would be doing at home in Australia, although it's a bit different because when I'm here I know it's only for a couple of months. I don't think it will be any different if I get to move here for two years as a student, though. I plan to just bring whatever I am allowed to bring with me on a plane.