As a child, I felt alive leaving Germany behind. Each summer, as our car crossed the bridge from Denmark to Sweden, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. While other children looked forward to returning home after holidays, I dreaded it. Germany never felt like home, and for years, I couldn’t understand why.
On paper, I had everything: good schools, comfortable housing, safe streets. But beneath this stability churned a restlessness. I rejected the culture I grew up in. At fifteen, I escaped to Paris for three months. At sixteen, I studied in the UK for seven. My Abitur became a means to an end—scoring high enough to study anywhere but here. Oxford beckoned, then US universities.
When that didn’t happen, I sought adventure. Hence, I went to Ukraine for a month (2021). Then, I moved to Berlin, the closest I could get away from Germany without leaving right away. But from the start, I waited for that day.
Finally, on August 9th, 2022, I boarded a train to Prague with my cousin, my life compressed into two backpacks. After wandering the Balkans, I landed in Georgia—the first country where I sought to find a sense of belonging.
Three years later, I still don’t have a permanent residence. I changed locations well over 40 times, struggling to foster friendships, feel belonging, and make a living. I survived on the bare minimum.
Yet through all this movement, I discovered practices to cultivate a sense of home. I could create belonging anywhere when I personalized my space, nurtured relationships, and grounded myself. But it required commitment.
Now I’m narrowing my search. The Nordics call to me with their untamed nature and solitude. New Zealand has been whispering a similar promise for years. Perhaps it’s telling that I feel most at home in cultures different from my own.
What makes a place feel like home to you? I’m interested to hear your thoughts.
Maybe time to try India ?