I herewith admit also liking to look in ppl’s homes when ‘just passing by’ - on the other hand I AM living in a ‘garden flat’ on the ground floor and EVERYBODY walking past our apartment can see us and all we do…. NOT always what I want to have witnesses to. So, especially now in the dark and early winter months, I roll all our shutters down but let a tiny bit light in so that outsiders can see that we have the twinkling lights and some lamps on, hence, we are at home!
I’m new ‘chez toi’ and love that camper van. It was a dream of my dad - he meant to buy a cheap, down-on-its-luck camper and give it a new lease of life. Which sadly wasn’t possible for health reasons - but I think I did him proud when, as a young woman, I travelled for months in Canada and North America right down to Texas, where we continued on Greyhounds to Mexico (and where many experiences and ‘adventures’ occurred).
I also would need more space for books and less for fishing gear ;)
Love this. And damn, should have asked for Home for Christmas.
I love looking through windows so very much. This time of year, especially on the top deck of a double-decker, is perfect for it.
Weirdly, I absolutely expected to be living your kind of life from a fairly early age, but have somehow ended up in the same house for almost a quarter of a century.
I was very much planning to travel round Europe in a van after uni, but (a) never passed my driving test and (b) got a proper job that started a week after the end of my degree, so didn’t even fit in a post-uni interrailing summer. Thankfully, the proper job didn’t last long, and I have been a freelancer for more than three decades.
I also expected to live in multiple European countries, but managed a year in Spain as a kid (before I had even established that expectation, or perhaps when I did) and a year in France as part of of my degree.
I am now hoping to make it work in a few years, when kids have let home, and I think I have managed to persuade my husband to come too (he is more of stay settled and explore the 20 miles that surround him guy). But I keep reading that many kids don’t really leave home until they're in their thirties now, and the eldest came back after only a couple of months at uni, realising it wasn’t for her, so maybe that won't happen either. Or they will just have to come along, too.
In the meantime, I appreciate getting to live vicariously through other people’s nomadic and emigration stories. So, thank you. Your van is wonderful.
Self-Gift it to yourself, I’m sure you’re allowed!
I think we could’ve easily ended up in a house for years too, but circumstances with work and family have kept us on the move since we met. I definitely caught myself thinking ‘Oh I wish I’d done the van life thing when I was younger’, that combined with having just read ‘The top 5 regrets of the dying’ by Bonnie Ware, got me all fired up to go for it, I will say the timing was perfect and Dean was well up for it too, which when things fall into place like that, makes a big difference.
Our plan had been to try it out first, rent a van for 1-3 months and give it a go, maybe you could start there?
I’m sure I’ll be sharing more as we have a BIG travel year planned for 2026, so plenty more to come 😍
I do gift myself mini trips, as often as I can. 4-10 days here and there. And I had my 5-week interrailing trip two years ago (in cheap hotels and Airbnbs, but would absolutely love to do a longer trip with boutique hotels and nice restaurants and Chris coming along). I usually stay in Airbnbs – not necessarily using that company, but small apartments where I can cook and work and settle for the time I am there. I am fascinated at how at home I can manage to feel, though there are definitely some things I miss.
As long as I can keep doing more of them, and longer ones, I will probably be OK with staying in the same house for a fair while longer, or even for good.
Love this post. I too love looking through windows and seeing the domestic worlds beyond. (Grew up in the Netherlands where folks rarely drew their curtains; probably different now.) I find how people live in their homes endlessly fascinating, and adored the peek into the van. Happy holidays!
Oh I love that about the Netherlands too, there’s a great book by Ben Coates about ‘Why the Dutch are Different’ but you probably don’t need to read that if you grew up there😂 It used to be one of my favourite things to do whenever I visited, walk the canals at night and peer into all the lovely kitchens and living rooms with their lights on.
I was last in Amsterdam in 2019 and they still had their curtains open then…
Thank you for your great post. I should definitely read the book as I am almost homeless for more than 8 months now. Going from one mum's home to another.
I need something to stick to in order to feel like home even while I'm living among my suitcases.
And your point of view gave me a new perspective for my situation. Maybe seeing it more positive.
I’ve been thinking about this a bit more as there’s a big difference between being transient by choice, which I obviously am, and having that transience forced on you. When I lived in New York, it was a sublet and I was surrounded by decor I hated, but I bought a beautiful throw, I had a scented candle, I cooked my favourite foods and I had gorgeous journal I wrote in and created my own routines, invested in some posh shower gel and body lotion, which made the location feel more like home for me, bought myself a plant/sometimes fresh flowers and at some point the decor that wasn’t my choice blurred into the background, hope that makes sense!
It makes complete sense, actually. There’s such an important difference between choosing transience and having it imposed on you, and at the moment, mine is very much the latter. Reading your thoughts, and then talking with a friend after publishing my blog post, pushed the idea of home a bit further for me.
He’s also an immigrant, someone who never really managed to settle anywhere. Eventually, instead of trying to root himself in places, he shifted his focus to what he could always carry: his watch, his clothes, his perfume, and experiences, which only take up space in the mind.
That conversation stayed with me. It made me wonder how I might recreate a sense of home even within a forced, temporary situation, not by controlling the space around me, but by investing in the parts of myself that move with me.
haha! Someone came to look `at our house yesterday and when the agent showed her the shed, she screwed up her nose and said urgh probably just put my freezer in there! She is so not buying my house 😂
I herewith admit also liking to look in ppl’s homes when ‘just passing by’ - on the other hand I AM living in a ‘garden flat’ on the ground floor and EVERYBODY walking past our apartment can see us and all we do…. NOT always what I want to have witnesses to. So, especially now in the dark and early winter months, I roll all our shutters down but let a tiny bit light in so that outsiders can see that we have the twinkling lights and some lamps on, hence, we are at home!
I’m new ‘chez toi’ and love that camper van. It was a dream of my dad - he meant to buy a cheap, down-on-its-luck camper and give it a new lease of life. Which sadly wasn’t possible for health reasons - but I think I did him proud when, as a young woman, I travelled for months in Canada and North America right down to Texas, where we continued on Greyhounds to Mexico (and where many experiences and ‘adventures’ occurred).
I also would need more space for books and less for fishing gear ;)
Love this. And damn, should have asked for Home for Christmas.
I love looking through windows so very much. This time of year, especially on the top deck of a double-decker, is perfect for it.
Weirdly, I absolutely expected to be living your kind of life from a fairly early age, but have somehow ended up in the same house for almost a quarter of a century.
I was very much planning to travel round Europe in a van after uni, but (a) never passed my driving test and (b) got a proper job that started a week after the end of my degree, so didn’t even fit in a post-uni interrailing summer. Thankfully, the proper job didn’t last long, and I have been a freelancer for more than three decades.
I also expected to live in multiple European countries, but managed a year in Spain as a kid (before I had even established that expectation, or perhaps when I did) and a year in France as part of of my degree.
I am now hoping to make it work in a few years, when kids have let home, and I think I have managed to persuade my husband to come too (he is more of stay settled and explore the 20 miles that surround him guy). But I keep reading that many kids don’t really leave home until they're in their thirties now, and the eldest came back after only a couple of months at uni, realising it wasn’t for her, so maybe that won't happen either. Or they will just have to come along, too.
In the meantime, I appreciate getting to live vicariously through other people’s nomadic and emigration stories. So, thank you. Your van is wonderful.
Self-Gift it to yourself, I’m sure you’re allowed!
I think we could’ve easily ended up in a house for years too, but circumstances with work and family have kept us on the move since we met. I definitely caught myself thinking ‘Oh I wish I’d done the van life thing when I was younger’, that combined with having just read ‘The top 5 regrets of the dying’ by Bonnie Ware, got me all fired up to go for it, I will say the timing was perfect and Dean was well up for it too, which when things fall into place like that, makes a big difference.
Our plan had been to try it out first, rent a van for 1-3 months and give it a go, maybe you could start there?
I’m sure I’ll be sharing more as we have a BIG travel year planned for 2026, so plenty more to come 😍
I do gift myself mini trips, as often as I can. 4-10 days here and there. And I had my 5-week interrailing trip two years ago (in cheap hotels and Airbnbs, but would absolutely love to do a longer trip with boutique hotels and nice restaurants and Chris coming along). I usually stay in Airbnbs – not necessarily using that company, but small apartments where I can cook and work and settle for the time I am there. I am fascinated at how at home I can manage to feel, though there are definitely some things I miss.
As long as I can keep doing more of them, and longer ones, I will probably be OK with staying in the same house for a fair while longer, or even for good.
I look forward to reading more next year!
We’re also saving up for a grown-up Interrail trip, a tour of European Cities by train and staying in boutique hotels!
Love this post. I too love looking through windows and seeing the domestic worlds beyond. (Grew up in the Netherlands where folks rarely drew their curtains; probably different now.) I find how people live in their homes endlessly fascinating, and adored the peek into the van. Happy holidays!
Oh I love that about the Netherlands too, there’s a great book by Ben Coates about ‘Why the Dutch are Different’ but you probably don’t need to read that if you grew up there😂 It used to be one of my favourite things to do whenever I visited, walk the canals at night and peer into all the lovely kitchens and living rooms with their lights on.
I was last in Amsterdam in 2019 and they still had their curtains open then…
Thank you for your great post. I should definitely read the book as I am almost homeless for more than 8 months now. Going from one mum's home to another.
I need something to stick to in order to feel like home even while I'm living among my suitcases.
And your point of view gave me a new perspective for my situation. Maybe seeing it more positive.
Oh I do hope so! We are often told how we should live and what is ‘normal’, I hope you can find home while you’re going through this transition period
Thank you Jo ☺️
I’ve been thinking about this a bit more as there’s a big difference between being transient by choice, which I obviously am, and having that transience forced on you. When I lived in New York, it was a sublet and I was surrounded by decor I hated, but I bought a beautiful throw, I had a scented candle, I cooked my favourite foods and I had gorgeous journal I wrote in and created my own routines, invested in some posh shower gel and body lotion, which made the location feel more like home for me, bought myself a plant/sometimes fresh flowers and at some point the decor that wasn’t my choice blurred into the background, hope that makes sense!
It makes complete sense, actually. There’s such an important difference between choosing transience and having it imposed on you, and at the moment, mine is very much the latter. Reading your thoughts, and then talking with a friend after publishing my blog post, pushed the idea of home a bit further for me.
He’s also an immigrant, someone who never really managed to settle anywhere. Eventually, instead of trying to root himself in places, he shifted his focus to what he could always carry: his watch, his clothes, his perfume, and experiences, which only take up space in the mind.
That conversation stayed with me. It made me wonder how I might recreate a sense of home even within a forced, temporary situation, not by controlling the space around me, but by investing in the parts of myself that move with me.
https://parastoodiba.substack.com/p/the-imposter-immigrant-finding-home?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2xe0ng
Love this post, thanks for sharing
I love looking through windows and I love your van!
Probably about as much as I love your shed! 🤣
haha! Someone came to look `at our house yesterday and when the agent showed her the shed, she screwed up her nose and said urgh probably just put my freezer in there! She is so not buying my house 😂
OMG, some people! Definitely don’t sell to them! 🤣
My dream!
Also once a dream of mine, make sure you plan in some van time in your near future!