Welcome home away from home

(Note: I wrote this in late October 2023 and didn’t get around to posting it until now …)

Homecoming

“So how does it feel to be home?”

I’ve come home to Melbourne. A city that I grew up in then left behind. I’ve left my London home. A city that I settled in but wasn’t somewhere that I wanted to settle down in.

It’s warm and sunny outside, and on a slow Sunday morning I’m catching up on some writing and reading. Some Taylor Swift is playing. (She has a ‘new’ album out.  I’ve been told that I need to learn the lyrics by the time of the concert so that I can blend in with proper fans …)

Moment of pause

I’ve been hurtling through the last few months, cutting a swathe through physical and emotional to-do lists.  I’m lying on a sleek sled flying feet-first down an Olympic luge track with mobile phone in hand, ticking things off, filling in forms, delegating, chasing, waiting on hold, and following up.

• June/July – kids in exam season in London. I’m at the end of a big project. Trying to sell a house. Various last and goodbye events, including trip with best mate to Paris. Last work trip to Manchester.
• August – finish work in London office. The next day, my parents arrive from Melbourne. Continuing assortment of farewell events. Took parents to Edinburgh. Removalists come to pack up the house.
• September – family travelling (Italy and Spain). Send kids to Melbourne. Trip to Turkey. We also arrive in Melbourne.
• October – doing extreme amounts of life administration. Various hello and welcome events. Restart and start finishing work in Melbourne office. 

I’m very lucky to have the resources to cram an unnatural volume of travel and food, friends and family, and gigs and galleries in to such a short time. However, this is neither a sustainable nor sensible way to live.

TBH my brain and my heart are a bit tired.

Getting ready for this relocation, my default mode has been action/delivery/achieve, so I’m not sure how I really feel about ‘home’ yet. But I’ve rolled off the luge track and am walking at a measured pace to get a nice coffee.

Other things to read

• Where do you go when you press Home? Does your life have a ‘Home’ button? I’m back home (Sydney) after a brief visit to London (new home). My old house is empty and my new house is waiting for me. I’ve never been very attached to a particular location.  Home is wherever I am with my own little family.
• Gluten-induced homesickness Fresh sourdough toast with jam and ricotta has made me ponder moving back to Sydney. A fig Danish pastry has triggered layers of crispy homesickness. A pork and fennel sausage roll has almost brought me to tears.