Back

Home is where you park it

Cecilie Conrad·Jan 17, 2021· 3 minutes

We have created a life we don’t need a vacation from.

We have been a nomad family for two and a half years. It is not an eternity, but it is a long time. The kids have grown, we have all learned. The question of home has been a big one.

It was scary, to begin with, to take our family life on the road. How would it work? Would we feel safe, happy, focused? Would the children thrive? Would we become rootless and confused?

Of course, we thought about it? Basically, we decided, that it would become wonderful and that it would be worth it whenever it was not wonderful. We also decided to buy a bus, to take our lives out in the world but bringing our home with us. Like snails. So, we would cook in the same kitchen, sleep in the same beds, use the same bathroom, and carry lego and books and craft projects, and all in the new life.

And the slogan became the truth: Home is where you park it. We do feel it, whenever we park and stay for a few days, we feel at home.

But there is more to the story: Home is where we park it, not because of the beds and the moving tiny house. As you might know, the tiny house/bus did not move a lot. We bought the green van in the photo to speed up our journeys, and learned, our travels are ever-changing. We can not keep doing the same thing: Sometimes we live in the bus, sometimes in the van, sometimes with friends, sometimes in rentals, sometimes in hotels.

It is of no great matter. Home is where we park because we took the feeling of home into other elements than location.

Our home is where we cook our meals, where we read our cartoons in the morning, and share tea in the afternoons. Home is where we decide to live our life for a while. Home is home because we are together. We move with intuition and love and end up in amazing places. They all become home for a while because we make sure to not feel on the move, temporary, insecure. Instead, we breathe in, breathe out, cook broccoli, walk the dog, comb our hair, read our books, do our yoga, have conversations, enjoy the sunset.

With this, a lot of places can be home.

May the sun shine on you.

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

It is interesting how we always learn and always evolve. We think we know why we do a certain challenge and where it will take us. But ever so often,…Read more
We celebrate the fact that we are all unique and needed. Each and every one of us holds a world, has a unique path, and when we pass the starting lin…Read more
We are always traveling. Rarely have a plan, only sometimes prepare. I think about a Danish poet, Dan Türell, who wrote in an essay: if you can not m…Read more
I do slow stuff, and there is no logic to it. I knit, and I play the handpan, and I draw, and I spend hours in the kitchen. I sit down to watch the c…Read more
How do we handle such generosity, such open arms, and so much friendliness? We learn. We can always become even more generous, open-minded, hospitabl…Read more
We have rented a house in southeast Sicily for half of the winter. It is such a great luxury, the house is beautiful for the eyes as well as for the …Read more
Yesterday I took up writing, sharing my first blog post in a very long time, and openly challenging myself to do a 365-day streak of writing a short …Read more
We have a massive responsibility to each other, enormous. It becomes self-evident when we have children that we need to care for them and do our best…Read more
It is a funny New Year's resolution to plan to spend MORE time on social media. Very much out of character for me. Yet, this is what is on my mind. A…Read more