Musings on the definition of "Home"

It is late April, 2018, and we are presently on the last stages of our return journey from California to Ontario. We have been staying at Live Oak Landing Resort near Freeport FL since April 1. We made a one-week return trip, by air, back to Ontario at the beginning of April.

Iris Smith, 1928 - 2018
Tom Smith, 1925 - 2012

My dear Mother passed away on April 1, after a long and full life. It is notable that she and my late father spent winters in this part of Florida, after my father retired 25 years ago. They had a 21 foot Prowler, pulled by a regular-cab Dodge truck, and my mother has often told me that those years were the most enjoyable of their lives. She really loved that small fifthwheel. We are presently staying about 10 miles from the place where they stayed, which was known then as Emerald Coast RV Resort, which later became Topsail Hill State Park.

Mom and Dad's longest trip by RV was to the west coast of Canada. It was a journey that my mother talked about for the rest of her life. Her memories of the Alberta mountains and lakes would bring a tear to her eye when she told of them.

In her later years, my mother was intensely interested in hearing about our travels, and our fulltiming life. She would delight in the pictures we showed her, and listen intently to the stories of our travels which I would relate during my visits with her, and the weekly phone calls when we were traveling.

As fulltimers, we are making our own memories now. We have been living this lifestyle for almost seven years, and our recent return flight to Ontario caused me to reflect on the definition of "Home", for us. We encountered some cold and snowy weather in Ontario, and The Navigator made the remark, while we were waiting for our flight in Toronto, that "It will really be nice to get home".

This made me think, that the true location of "home" for us, changes according to where we are staying at the moment. The often-heard RVer's saying, seen on many bumper stickers, "Home is Where We Park It", has really come true. One thing is for sure, we love our Pinnacle fifthwheel as much as any of the houses we owned over the years, especially with the many modifications we have done to make it more comfortable and livable.

I believe that we have progressed from the stage of "Making the Trip" every year, to the feeling of truly being "At Home", wherever we happen to travel. Although it was great to be with our family for the week we were in Ontario at the beginning of April, we felt as though we were visiting the area, which we actually were, because all of the trappings of our lives were, at that time, located in Freeport, Florida.

When we travel now, I cannot help but reflect on the possibility that dear Mom may be smiling down on us as we travel across this great continent, and I am content with the knowledge that she and Dad got to experience this amazing traveling life.

It is a real privilege to have had them as my parents.