For over a decade, I’ve playfully declared, “home is where the toothbrush is.” It’s my lighthearted take on the common saying “home is where the heart is,” a concept I’ve always found intriguing yet somewhat distant from my own experience as a long-term solo traveler.
The idea of “home is where the heart is” often conjures images of Pinterest-perfect houses and traditional family settings – a beautiful sentiment, but seemingly detached from the nomadic reality. It speaks of roots, belonging, and a stable foundation, things that can feel elusive when you’ve left pieces of your heart in countless places around the globe.
As someone who has spent nearly half their life traveling internationally, the conventional definition of home has never quite resonated. “Grounded” and “homebody” are words that don’t align with a life constantly in motion. Yet, the human desire for belonging and the feeling of “home” is universal. Is it possible to reconcile this longing with a life on the road?
Vast Montana landscape symbolizing the feeling of home for a traveler
Reconsidering “Where the Heart Is”
My primary disconnect with the adage “home is where the heart is” stemmed from the concept of “heart” itself, particularly in relation to love. Love, in the traditional sense, often seemed like something reserved for others – those with settled lives and families. For a solo traveler, constantly moving and experiencing new places, love and home felt like separate entities.
However, years of nomadic travel have reshaped my understanding of love, especially self-love. I’ve come to believe that the heart’s capacity for connection and emotion is far more profound than we often realize. Instead of viewing travel as leaving pieces of my heart behind, I now see it as enriching and expanding my heart with fragments of love from people and places worldwide.
These experiences, these connections, are integral to who I am. If my heart is a collection of these global encounters, then haven’t I carried “home” with me all along?
Solo female traveler looking at a sunset in Chile, embodying the feeling of finding home while traveling
Redefining Home: Beyond Geography
Home isn’t a fixed location; it transcends geographical boundaries. It’s not solely a mindset either, as our minds and hearts often operate independently. Instead, I’ve come to understand home as a “heartset.” It’s an emotional state, an energetic resonance, not a point on a map.
Home emerges when your surroundings harmonize with your inner self, creating a sense of wholeness, familiarity, and profound connection. It’s that feeling of absolute contentment, of being exactly where you’re meant to be in that moment. For a constant traveler, this feeling is particularly precious.
In my travels, these “home” moments are often marked by an overwhelming sense of gratitude. A friend even coined them “Jackie moments.” These moments, fueled by gratitude and inner peace, are what I now recognize as my true sense of home. Surprisingly, these moments can arise in both familiar and completely new environments. I’ve felt as much at home on the shores of Lake Ohrid in Macedonia as on Lake Tahoe in California, my childhood home. This feeling can be sparked by a deep conversation with a stranger or the comfortable silence with a lifelong friend.
The key to finding home, I believe, lies in cultivating self-awareness, self-love, and inner peace. When we are at peace within ourselves, we become receptive to finding “home” wherever we are. This inner grounding allows us to feel at home whether we are surrounded by familiar walls and family or carrying our lives in a backpack, embracing solitude.
Solo backpacker on a train, representing solitude and finding home within oneself while traveling
The Power of Perspective on the Traveling Meaning
The traditional markers of “home” – family structures, physical locations, and routines – are inherently transient. Families evolve, people move, and life circumstances change. Clinging to a rigid definition of home based on these fleeting elements can lead to heartbreak, making the simple constancy of a toothbrush a comforting anchor.
But home, in its truest essence, isn’t about walls or material possessions. It’s deeply rooted in the heart, which possesses a remarkable ability to transcend the ephemeral. The heart can recognize, embrace, and carry the essence of what makes us feel whole, regardless of location, time, or distance. This is incredibly empowering, especially for travelers.
Adopting this perspective allows me to confidently claim “home” on my nomadic path, even without a fixed address. I embrace the ongoing journey of collecting heart-expanding experiences, knowing that as long as I carry my “heartset” – and my toothbrush – I am, in essence, always home.
Definition of home as a matter of heart, not walls, resonating with the traveling meaning of home
What does “home” mean to you in your travels? Share your thoughts in the comments.
