‘Summer’ holidays continue. Three point five weeks down and five and a half to go. Week two and three were great. Why? Because I took my two eldest girls back to Australia for 10 days.
IT WAS FABULOUS!
The decision to go back was last minute. I had decided not to return to Australia because I couldn’t face the thought of flying, on my own, with the three girls. I, realistically, figured that a holiday with a 19-month-old and two kids in tow might not be that much of a holiday at all. So we shelved the idea.
But I miss home, I really miss home. So G suggested I leave Chilli behind and take a short-break. Our nanny agreed to pick up the extra hours, G adjusted his work schedule slightly, I pushed my ‘mother guilt’ aside and we booked the flights to Brisbane.
Monkey and Pigeon are such seasoned travellers. They handled the long flights and the transits off a break. They were also, for the most part, wonderful companions. We had a really nice time.
From the moment we landed, I felt like I was home – the colour of the sky, the sound of thick Australian accents, the trees, the Brisbane River… the ordered and predictable traffic, the supermarket, the sidewalks, the parks and public spaces, the winter fruit, the cool weather, the cinema, the underwear and clothing that fit me… so easy, so convenient – OH GOD, IT WAS GOOD TO BE BACK!
Ultimately though, the best thing about going home, what made it so hard to leave, what makes my heart ache now as I sit in a cafe in uptown Vientiane and write, is the people I saw so briefly and have now, once again, farewelled… and the people I didn’t have time to see and have once again missed.
I have been living abroad for almost 8 years now but I still have a place I call home. My home is not a building. My home is the friends and family who I love and leave behind.
It was good to go home.
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Thanks for reading. Have a fabulous day.
44andafourth 
I wonder what your kids will think of as ‘home’? All our ‘third culture’ children might feel a bit stateless, don’t you think? I faced just such a challenge when we returned to Australia from the US as the kids thought the US was ‘home’. Considering it was the only ‘home’ they had known, they had a point. I’m hoping the occasional stints back here in OZ will give them a sense of their Australianess!
Mel, G and I worry about that constantly. Interestingly, this trip was the first time the girls really started to ask about returning to Australia to ‘live forever’. Pigeon said yesterday that we live in Australia now. When I corrected her, ” Darling, we live in Laos”, she replied, “No mummy, we live in Australia, we are just on a REALLY long holiday to Laos.” Cuteness!!
Still, I hope that is true. I want them to have a connection with the place I call home.
Nonetheless, I think they are very lucky to have had the opportunity to live here and elsewhere in SEA. They certainly have a very impressive perspective for ones so young.
Makes us remember what the important things are in life..we lived in the lakes I italy for three years..utterly beautiful..but not home xxxx
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