Home

[Canadave]

For me, it's Ottawa. I moved there for university back in 2005, and lived there until late-last year, when I moved down to the Niagara Region for more school. I'm really hoping to get a job there and move back up, as I love the city. It's got a great "big small-town" feel to it, has some awesome neighborhoods, and is just a great city to live in overall. I miss it.

 

[Daneel]

Interesting question. I suppose, in a way, my parents' house will always feel like home to me: I spent many, many years there, all with a loving family, so really, how could it not feel like home? I still visit often, and my folks have told me that they hope I'll always think of the place as home.

Of course, even home can get a little wearisome after a while, or at least it did for me. After twenty-five years there... I needed a change, to put it mildly. I yearned for independence, so I moved out.

I've lived in a couple of okay places since then, and I certainly don't regret moving out of my parents' house (and city), but I've yet to find somewhere new that really, truly feels like "home". I think I came close last year, with the place I'm living in now. It felt like a great place to be, in no small part, I think, because of the good roommates I had. The atmosphere was, for the most part, terrific. Now, they've all moved out. I'm living with virtual strangers again. I have no issues with any of them, but it's just not the same. As corny as it may sound, it does often seem like home is not so much a place, but rather the people you share it with.

For me, it's Ottawa. I moved there for university back in 2005, and lived there until late-last year, when I moved down to the Niagara Region for more school. I'm really hoping to get a job there and move back up, as I love the city. It's got a great "big small-town" feel to it, has some awesome neighborhoods, and is just a great city to live in overall. I miss it.

Ah, Ottawa... I've never been. I really should see it one of these days, though. One of my aforementioned roommates/pals is from the Ottawa area, and he just moved back there a couple months ago. Perhaps I'll pay him a visit in the near future.

 

[Holdfast]

You "just" found your home quite readily and have (understandably) not moved since! None of that transitional horror others suffer heroically through.

It's called laziness; an artform I mastered years ago. Fortunately, it didn't require much study, or I don't think I'd have bothered.

I'm in the process of making my new home as we speak.

Never had you pegged as the build-your-own-home type. What style are you going for?

 

[SeerSGB]

Where ever the wife and kids are is home to men. I've never been one to put much stock in "where" as much as the "who I'm with"

 

[Lumi]

I sort of forgot... I do have another home.

Out in the woods. Any woods. If there are trees, I feel at home...

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

Home is where these babies and my wife are.

 

[RandyS]

Home is where these babies and my wife are.

Which one is your wife?

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

Home is where these babies and my wife are.

Which one is your wife?

The one taking the picture you wisenheimer.

 

[RandyS]

Home is where these babies and my wife are.

Which one is your wife?

The one taking the picture you wisenheimer.

 

[Me-Ike]

I am really enjoying all the answers. It's interesting to see how for some it's just the people, for others the place must be right as well. Lumi, I definitely get the thing about woods, for example. They're my favorite place in nature as well; yet I personally wouldn't go as far as saying that I feel at home in every wood.
Also good to see pictures! I could have mentioned from the beginning to show some pictures.

It's called laziness; an artform I mastered years ago. Fortunately, it didn't require much study, or I don't think I'd have bothered.

How cute! The young Padawan thinks he knows something about lazyness. Isn't that adorable.
Fortunately, working really, really hard usually doesn't help with the home thing.

 

[Holdfast]

It's called laziness; an artform I mastered years ago. Fortunately, it didn't require much study, or I don't think I'd have bothered.

How cute! The young Padawan thinks he knows something about lazyness. Isn't that adorable.

I learned from Yoda. There's a reason that little green dude rides around on Luke's back.

My lightsaber's bigger though. Promise. And it isn't green. There was medicine to fix that.

Fortunately, working really, really hard usually doesn't help with the home thing.

It can help pay for it, but that's its sole redeeming factor. Deeply overrated.

 

[Warp Coil]

I guess the closest thing to home is my Grandma's house. Other than cosmetic changes, it's been the same for the entirety of my life. I definitely feel "at home" there. I spent a significant amount of time there over the years. When I was little, it's where I would go after school until my parents came home from work. To this day it's where all major holidays are held. When the day comes that my Grandma is no longer with us, and if/when the house is sold as part of the estate, it is going to be really weird.

 

[Me-Ike]

^ That's sweet. I always like those big families where the grandparents were also closely connected to the everyday life. There were some generation spanning households among my friends and it always seemed so warm and friendly.

I learned from Yoda. There's a reason that little green dude rides around on Luke's back.

My lightsaber's bigger though. Promise. And it isn't green. There was medicine to fix that.

No, I think the force is weak in this one. Wouldn't be able to lift the X-Wing, definitely wouldn't be able to lift anything else.

Nah, having a lot to spend for a house really doesn't make a home. What if I can buy any bookcase, any television set, any wardrobe I want from the get-go? And pay with my freetime for it? Where's the value in that? Overrated fits.

 

[Lumi]

Lumi, I definitely get the thing about woods, for example. They're my favorite place in nature as well; yet I personally wouldn't go as far as saying that I feel at home in every wood.

Any place where there are lots of trees and birds, some trails to walk... I could spend every day, all day. I'd never come inside if I didn't need to shower and watch Star Trek.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm in the process of making my new home as we speak.

Never had you pegged as the build-your-own-home type. What style are you going for?

You are taking me way too literally, here.

"Renovating our new flat with the fiancée" would be a more accurate description. This has been going on for a while, but finally it's coming to fruition.

As for style, I'm going for something modern and sleek: Japanese-inspired for the master bedroom and bathroom, simple and comfortable for the kitchen, industrial for the living room. The second bedroom is still kinda fuzzy. We are working on a budget here (science doesn't pay well, monetarily at least), so it's mostly Ikea and stuff we found on-line or at clearance sales, but I like it.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I sort of forgot... I do have another home.

Out in the woods. Any woods. If there are trees, I feel at home...

Even when it is night time? And you're by yourself? And there's no moon?

 

[1001001]

Home is the Greatest City on Earth: Los Angeles.

Even though I moved to Northern California, I still think of it as "home", in just the way you described.

I actually wrote a thread about this very thing after a recent trip.

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=151450

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I loved Los Angeles. I like the surreal element of it. It's a trippy place.

 

[RoJoHen]

Home is a group of people. I've moved about 14 times in the last 9 years, so there really isn't a specific place I call home, but when I am around a certain group of friends (regardless of location), it feels like home.

 

[Holdfast]

I'm in the process of making my new home as we speak.

Never had you pegged as the build-your-own-home type. What style are you going for?

You are taking me way too literally, here.

"Renovating our new flat with the fiancée" would be a more accurate description. This has been going on for a while, but finally it's coming to fruition.

As for style, I'm going for something modern and sleek: Japanese-inspired for the master bedroom and bathroom, simple and comfortable for the kitchen, industrial for the living room. The second bedroom is still kinda fuzzy. We are working on a budget here (science doesn't pay well, monetarily at least), so it's mostly Ikea and stuff we found on-line or at clearance sales, but I like it.

Oh right, I see!

That sounds interesting.

You know, I've never really been able to get into interior design. I can theoretically appreciate it, of course, and can like it in other people's homes. But for my own home I have really quite unremarkable furniture. You could probably transplant 90% of my furnishings into a moderately nice but traditional hotel and not notice the difference. It's sort of non-descript, really.

I find a strong design aesthetic in my home to be a bit unsettling, come to think of it. A certain blandness makes it more calming, somehow. I suppose if I knew this was my final home, rather than just one I'm going to be in for years to come but probably not forever, I might make more of an effort. But even then, I'm fairly certain at least the bedroom would lack a strong design focus and be blandly neutral.

Maybe I just watched too much TNG...