Home is Where You Hang Your Swimming Suit

Or in Kiwi speak, 'Home is where you hang your togs'. I believe it was my youngest brother BK who coined that expression. We travelled a lot as kids- visits to Iowa to see grandma and grandpa and cousins and aunts and uncles, family vacations. Mom & Dad tried to book us in a hotel with a pool wherever possible (and reasonably priced). Whenever we were out and about for the day on one of these trips away from home, we'd often accidentally say 'let's go home, maybe just go for a dip in the pool' when mom asked us 'where to next'. In this expression, 'home' was referring to the hotel or place we were staying for the night- we didn't really want to go all the way back home. We were so good at adapting that we just made ourselves at home wherever we went, or as BK would say, wherever we hung our swimming suits.

That adaptability has stayed with me. I have called many places home, and feel like we've done a great job making a home for ourselves here in Auckland. However, leading up to my trip stateside, I kept talking about 'going home' and looking forward to 'my trip home'. It felt strange, as if by calling the states home I was somehow betraying the status of Auckland as my home. But then I remembered BK's expression 'home is where you hang your swimming suit' and realized that it's possible to have more than one home. That definitely rang true on this trip. I felt right at home in San Fran with mom, dad and J. We had a great time at the Giants game, I went to clay class with mom and made some adorable little New Zealand salt & pepper shakers, we played cards and caught up. And of course, I hung out my swimming suit after our dips in the hot tub. Most importantly, it just felt relaxed, and well, like home.