home sweet home

i've had 15 homes in my life, the current one included. the first one i don't remember much about; we moved out when i was less than three years old. the second one is what i consider to be my childhood home, the one which still holds the 1st place in terms of years lived in. the remaining 13 homes i have been through in the course of the past eleven years or so; three of these in tampere, five in helsinki, one in turku, two in budapest and two in prague.

i have my favourites, the ones i miss more than others and the ones i dislike. thrown in there is the worst time i've ever had anywhere as well, naturally; when you make a list, something is always left as the least preferable option. i have lived by myself and with people, in a single-family house as well as crammed into a one bedroom apartment with four other girls.

all these places i have considered a home, and for me home is a very important place. it's a base camp, a door which i can close and be left alone. home it is not important to me in a sense that i would want it to be of certain kind or have some particular characteristics; i just need it to be there so i have a place to hide into. i like central location over square meters (as you often do have to chose) and a hassle-free block of apartments instead of something with a yard and neighbours you have to socialise with more than greeting them in the staircase. i don't like owning things and buying an apartment feels about as appealing as casting my feet into concrete and jumping into the sea.

so in other words home is not a specific thing for me, the childhood one perhaps excluded. it's more of an idea, something that it is not tied into particular walls or place; and maybe this is why i find it very easy to pack up and go. next year i will be having a new home again, and i am more than looking forward to it; there's so many homes in this world i still want to have, and it's good to get going sooner than later.