The Concept of Home

The idea of ‘home’ is a funny thing and I’ve began to question what exactly it means to me since studying abroad. I don’t think that for me home is a just place necessarily because I’ve felt at home in many different places. I felt at home in Holland where I grew up, in Kalamazoo during my first year at WMU, here in Burgos, Spain where I am living currently, and most recently in Granada, a Spanish city I was lucky enough to visit. After spending just 3 days in Granada, the feeling of being at home hit me like a punch in the face in the best way possible. I still don’t know exactly what home means but in this blog I’m going to talk about my experience with it and hopefully we can figure it out together.

 Written by: Maggie Neuman

Major: Business

Location: Burgos, Spain

I’ve been able to travel quite a bit in and out of Spain while abroad and every time I go to a new place, it’s almost like a test run of if it is somewhere that I would like to live one day. At this point I have figured out that beauty alone doesn’t make places somewhere that I would like to live because fortunately all of the places I’ve traveled to have been breathtakingly gorgeous. I think that the feeling of home has a lot more to do with the people and the general ‘vibe’ or energy of the place. Size I have found has a lot to do with that vibe whether you go to a pueblo or village, a populated but small city in scale, or a large city. When I was younger, I always thought that I wanted to live in a huge city like New York or San Francisco but through my travels while abroad I have figured out that big cities aren’t quite right for me. I have found that there are a lot more similarities between big cities than there are similarities between smaller locales (a big city is a big city no matter where you are). In other words, smaller cities have more character which I personally appreciate. Smaller cities I have found are also generally more relaxed which feels more like home to me than a big city where everybody runs around like chickens with their heads cut off. I personally find driving stressful as well so being able to walk everywhere and better experience the city is very appealing. These factors I have found greatly contribute to whether a place feels like home or would be livable for me. Next, I’d like to talk about Granada in particular and why I so badly want to call this city home one day. A lot of this feeling had to do with the hostel I stayed at. At this hostel, there was a common area outside in the trees where everybody would pass the time while sharing stories of where they came from and what they had done in Granada. There was also an area with hammocks where you could take a nap or just chill and read. Last but not least, there was a ladder that allowed you to climb on top of the roof where there was a pomegranate tree! Of course the roof had a beautiful view but my favorite part was being able to pick and eat fresh pomegranates multiple times a day. Not everyone was as passionate about pomegranates as I was so I think people found me funny (maybe even a bit strange) but at least it sparked conversation! All of these common areas as well as group tours brought people in the hostel together which allowed me to find people to explore with.

On my first night, I went on a tour with the hostel which took us to the highest point in the city to see the sunset. Here, I met a doctor from Germany and a banker from Arkansas and we went to a flamenco show together very spur of the moment. Though I had only just met these people, they were incredibly kind and I felt very comfortable with them. I think that experiences like this have a lot to do with why a place feels like home much like Granada did for me. I’d also like to touch a little bit on my experience with homesickness while abroad and how that has impacted my meaning of home. Every once in a while, I do miss certain physical aspects of my life in the United States like Lake Michigan which I frequented nearly every day during the summer but more often I miss my family, friends, and dog. There are gorgeous lakes all over the world that can help me feel at home again but in reality, it is the people who went to Lake Michigan with me that created those wonderful memories and the feeling of home. This is why I think that relating to the general vibe or energy of a place can make it home because you are more likely to meet people you can connect with who will become like your family.

Lastly, I’d like to talk a bit more about familiarity and what it has to do with home. As humans, we are drawn to familiar things because they feel safe to us. As a result, the familiar often feels like home. As Americans we have unique circumstances because our culture has influenced the rest of the world a fair amount (not necessarily in a good way but the culture of the United States is present in many different places). Everywhere I have traveled in Europe, I have seen familiar brands from the United States like McDonalds and even Five Guys. It is nearly impossible to escape the American culture that we know. Nearly everybody speaks English as well so we even have the benefit of familiarity with our native language being spoken in many different places which not everyone has. Familiarity is part of the reason that I prefer smaller cities to massive cities. In smaller cities, you can recognize many people and places regularly which feels very comfortable at least for me. In the end it is possible to find physical familiarity wherever you go but smaller cities are more conducive to it and ultimately for me it is the people that make a place home more than familiarity even though I do find it very comforting. Home likely doesn’t mean the same thing to you as it does to me and that’s okay. However, traveling to new places has helped me figure out what home means to me and where I would like to live in the future which I think it can do for everyone. It takes experiencing new places and cultures to figure out what you like so get out there and try it out! I hope this has inspired you to get out there and find your home because it’s a fantastic feeling when you do.

Categories: Spain, Homesickness, Marketing