Home is where your heart is

" - Where are u from?
  - Romania
  - Ooooh, you are a long way from home!
  - No, I'm not!
  - What do you mean?
  - You see, I believe that home is where your heart is. And right now, my heart is here. So, I am home!"
 
 Last time I had this conversation with a Spanish girl, trekking around the globe for a year, in a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

 
 - Don't you miss home? or a place to call home? she asked..
 -Well,  I made a choice more than 10 years ago to not get attached to any things material. I never miss anything or anyplace. I only miss people.
 - Yes, but a home is not just a bulk of bricks and furniture. It's safety, comfort, memories and so on. Where do you keep your stuff? Don't u have a place to stay when you are not traveling?
 - No, I am homeless !
 - Huuh?
 - Yes.
 - You can't be homeless.
 - Well, I am. It all started pretty much just to prove myself it's possible to be homeless. 1st of October last year I embarked in attempt to stay homeless for a full year, always on the road. I had until then a small one-room apartment rented, that I gave up. I moved out, and did not move in anywhere for more than one year.
 - What about your belongings?

 - That was a biig shock to me. I used to be quite mobile. But then I sort of settled down for some years, and lots of useless stuff I never use started building up. When I moved out, I discovered I had so many clothes I never wore, so many things that I really don't need and lots of junk. I gave away some, threw away some, and kept with me the strictly necessary. It felt so good to give away those objects, and not having to care about them anymore! It felt like taking a weight off my back and my mind in the same time. If you go to your grandparents attic, or basement, you'll immediately know what I mean. We all tend to collect a lifetime of useless junk, sometimes we think they might somehow be of use in the future, sometimes we just call them souvenirs and memories, but never a second time look at them.
 - So, how did that work?
 - Well, I permanently travel. Sometimes I changed the city even twice a week, always in a project or a training. I am lucky my work allows that, and I am very happy with it. Also, I discovered it made fantastic financial sense.

before that, i used to rent a small place. For six months it costed me between 2-3000 euros. I counted the days I actually spent at home in 6  months: just 5 days. I realized that for that kind of money I could have stayed in the most luxurious hotel. So, I said to myself: I am going to risk it! If in one year I'll have days when i don't have a project or a training, I'll either go to a friend for a visit, or rent a room in a hotel for a few days. It will never cost me more than renting a place.
 In one year, I never needed to actually go to a hotel. I did so of my own choice for 2 holiday weekends, but that is something different.
 - What about now?
 - Well, I did rent a room in Delhi, last month, but hardly stayed there for a week or so put together, and right now I'm back on the road again.

 - How long will you do that?
 - Until I'll feel the need to settle down :) It's kind of difficult to go on like this if you ave a family.
 - Don't u ever feel homesick?
 - Is this the first time u ask a homeless guy if he feels homesick, or you do that regularly :))) ?
 - Eh, come on..
 - I'm kidding
 - Why are you doing this?
 - Because it makes me feel free. Free from the slavery of stuff. I don't need to worry about
forgetting the tap running, or about the electricity being cut cause I have not had time to pay the bill, or about buying a new light switch as the other one just broke and so on. All these small chores eat away our lives, and we never realize it. Time is my most precious asset. I do not wish to see it wasted on administrative duty of a house.  So, I said to my self, is it really possible to escape this slavery of material objects? Is it possible to go deeper than just stopping the use of an object for a while? I can easily say: "I'm not dependent on my mobile phone!" and put it aside for a few months. But a home is different. There is no such word as "mobileSick" (not yet :)), but homesick there is. I wanted to prove myself that this is possible, and that I can escape this dependency on the material world.
    I cannot say I am independent, I still need various objects to survive, like a clothes, a toothbrush and my guitar, but still, is a big step ahead. Now I don't wish to be home, with the things and comfort I love, but with the people I love. And I don't feel homesick. Cause home is where my heart is!

Singapore, 4th of November 2010 Tweet