Each year around December I'm reminded of how much I long for home. After 26 years abroad, I increasingly feel adrift, disoriented. This month I will have "lived" equally outside the United States as long I lived in the United States. My experiences and adventures over these years are markedly different than most of my fellow Americans, yet there's something about this time of year that draws me to home. 

Singapore isn't my home any more than Saudi Arabia or China, both places we have lived during our time abroad, yet my children were born here. They are more oriented to Singapore customs and culture(s) than they are to their country of passport. A "homecoming" for them will be markedly different than it will be for Nanette and me when we decide to repatriate. In these past few years, I've increasingly had conversations with colleagues who've decided "this year" would be their last. After 15, 20, 30+ years abroad they felt it was time to return home (there's that word again). So what is "home?" 

New York Times reporter, Melissa Kirsch notes, home is a metaphor for ease and comfort. When we feel at home in the world, we wear existence like a comfortable sweater; we belong. 
Sadly, the events of the past two and a half years have caused many of us to realize safety and comfort are not always equally distributed.

A need for safety and comfort in a world of increasing uncertainty...perhaps this is what I'm longing for when I think of home. This holiday season I'm looking forward to the safety of being among family, of wearing that comfortable sweater for a few weeks and allowing myself to draw upon its warmth, and believe me I'll need it in North Dakota! 

What about you? After more than two years of being unable to travel (for many) what are you longing for when you think of "home?"