I am on the plane from Bali to Bangkok. In Bangkok I will take a connecting flight to Sydney. In Sydney I will enter a whole new world again. I will be on the other side of the world, further away from home than I have ever been. Or not? No, when I arrive in Sydney The Netherlands will be on the other side of the world. And I have never been so far away from The Netherlands and can’t possibly get any further away than that. But will it mean that I am further away from home than ever? What is home?

I am not saying that I don’t feel like an Amsterdammer anymore. I feel Dutch and I miss my friends. I will come back when the time is right. It is just that I am seeing that feeling at home is not a geographical thing. When I am at home in my body and my heart I am at home anywhere. And when I experience some kind of deficit, as if there is something lacking, I am not really at home (not even in my own bed).