There truly is no place like home. And, even though it may take more than just a click of your heels to get there sometimes, it’s always there for you to rest, reset and re-center. For me, that place is Monroeville, Alabama.
Monroeville is one of those small towns where your neighbors know your name and they’ve been keeping an eye on your house, even if you didn’t ask and have only been out of town for a day. It’s a place where you feel cared for and where you feel like you can take care of yourself – important prerequisites for a home. Its been 7 months since the last time I was home, which isn’t abnormal for a nomadic life – some nomads have no home base – but it is more than enough time to grow homesick.
It’s important to have a space to recharge the batteries and decompress. Of course, there is never much relaxing when I get to go home. Having my local business Ole’ Curiousities Book Shoppe, West Claiborne Marketplace, and of course, all of our digital ventures, there is always work to be done. Nevertheless, this is the place where I can relax, be at ease, and lay my head down in familiar settings – its a truly priceless feeling.
So, while back at home, we worked on a few projects that needed tending too. There was roof-patching on the book shop, as well as some other renovations and there was work to be done at home. In between all of that and work on this blog and etsy and – all the other things – there were still enough moments of home-made breakfasts from mom, a few late nights on the couch watching my favorite shows, and grabbing a bite at the local cafe, where the shrimp po-boys make you wonder if you ever actually wanna leave this place.
As someone that travels constantly, both for work and for play, its still my belief that having a place you can call home is important. Living on the road and being free from all connections is exciting and a unique lifestyle, but without knowing you have a place – a sanctuary – to which you can go and locate your self, in case you happen to lose it, is necessary. Building the museum of your travel souvenirs and pictures, creating an energy space that emanates those warm familiar feelings, and knowing where the road ends, if you need to at some point, these things make some of the harsher parts of travel, a little less hard to handle. I look forward to being the crazy old mad, who lives at the end of the street, with the awesome house that the neighborhood kids say is filled with rare artifacts and ancient books. He might have been Indiana Jones, they also say, and I’m pretty ok with all of what’s happening in that possible future.