Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well the adventure has begun. We have packed our bags, all seven of them, said our good byes to the neighbours and are now sitting in a hotel at Sydney airport waiting to fly to Toronto tomorrow morning.
I walked out onto the front porch of the house, closed the door and got into the car without a single goodbye to the cats. I just couldn’t do it. They would have sensed how emotional I was feeling, that’s just not fair to them.
We have a bit of repacking to do before boarding the plane in the morning otherwise we are all prepared. It hasn’t been easy. It has been several weeks of cleaning, organising, packing, repacking, re-cleaning, contacting the appropriate people, re-organising but now we are done.
Until we get to Toronto, then we have to find a place to live so we get to start apartment hunting right away. The big problem with apartment hunting is that we don’t really know what we are doing or where to look. We want a “village” feel. Having asked a few different people for advice, we have heard a few different opinions and are no closer to knowing which area of Toronto we should be apartment hunting in. It will come to us, I am sure. And, if it doesn’t, then we will move as soon as the lease is up. After all, this is an adventure. It doesn’t really fit as an adventure if one knows how it will all play out!
Sydney, is sending us off with an amazing thunder storm. How cool is that? After weeks of beautiful weather, it’s time! Fall is on its way here in Australia. The perfect time to leave.
I was asked by a friend if Australia is now home to me. It got me thinking, where is home?
I have always felt and assumed that Quatsino was home to me. It is where I was born and raised. The boat turns into Hecate Cove, the Shipyard comes into view and I feel home. This is home.
But then again, I lived in Port McNeill for thirty years. So many friends and family on the North Island. The car stretches over the crest, the Beaver Cove turn off comes into view, the air cools and the smell of salt assaults the senses. I feel that I have arrived home. This area is so familiar and is filled with family and friends.
Then there is Nanaimo. Only four years, but many memories and good times. I always arrive via ferry into Departure Bay. As we approach the Island, I know, I am home.
Living in Australia for the last six years, we visit Canada every year. When we come back to Australia, I feel the same sense of home. Sydney airport, the train and finally Woy Woy. The waterfront is magical, our friends diverse and plentiful. Life is good at our little piece of Primrose paradise.
Where does that leave me now? Preparing to board a plane to a new adventure, a new home. Where is home? What is home?
It came to me yesterday, home is not a place, it’s a feeling. I feel at home with the memories I have collected along this path of life. The path I have chosen has taken me to different corners of the world. I won’t really find home in any of those corners. To me, home is about people. The person I am sharing my life with right now is Al. Together, we are what make a home. It is with a new sense of understanding that I can live anywhere in the world and know in my heart that if I am with Al, I am home.