BIO

Home is where the heart is

My story is one of movement. I have been a traveler all my life. I’m a global nomad. A third culture kid. A fifth-generation world citizen. An expat lifer. A writer. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a home maker.

Due to all the moving I have done all my life I’ve always related to the saying “Home is where the Heart is.” Home is wherever my family is; with my parents when I was young, with my husband and children in adult life. My husband is a kindred traveler and my soul mate. My four children raise the bar as far as it goes for humans, in terms of family, loyalty, kindness and compassion. My gentle and affectionate English cream golden retriever pulled me through a particularly difficult time in my life, and last but not least, our crazy Italian tabby kitten, the latest addition to our family, keeps me on my toes. My family is my Home and my true North.

At the age of 18, I began my own travels. Southern Egypt, Southern Turkey, Dodecanese islands. I ended up in France where I spent the next 4 years in Angers, near the Loire valley, honing my already pretty polished French at university studying Spanish. It was an odd choice but seemed a good idea at the time!

England, despite having spent 10 years at school there, was never the home for me. However, after those 4 years in France, I decided to give London a try, and was lucky to land a job in a prestigious recruitment agency. Thanks to their belief in me, and my ability to speak several languages fluently, after a year as their Admin, the agency placed me in my dream job in an international advertising agency.

This is where I met my husband who hails from the land of olive trees, red earth and azure seas. This Southern Italian man, with eyes the colour of teal, whisked me off my feet and before I knew it, we were walking down the aisle and saying, “I do”.

London life was not for either of us – too expensive, crazy work pace, no free-time – so we decided to move to Milan the day after we tied the knot. Not because he missed his home country, but because we both wanted a change. This is where we, as our own family unit, began our story of movement. We managed to find jobs in different advertising agencies in Milan and were happy for a while, discovering Northern Italy, Switzerland, France.
Within a few months of moving, we got pregnant. This was unexpected but we were delighted. Nine months later, we welcomed our first born into our lives. A few months later, we both felt the urge to move again, and after one or two job interviews, we moved to Bologna, Italy to work for a large American company. We had our second child there, and our traveling adventures continued. We moved to the Netherlands when our second child was a year old. We spent 8 years there and continued to add to our brood, making us a total of six. We then moved, all kids in tow, to Tokyo. We were there for 4 years and then moved to Portland, Oregon US, where we were for 7 years.

We are now living in Modena, Italy. It’s a different reality as three of the four kids are now living on their own. Either working or in college. And are spread all over the world. Will this be our landing place? Will this end up being our Forever Home? Who knows. For now, Home is here, and we are embracing it full heartedly. “Home is where the Heart is” still rings true, with my heart expanding across oceans and seas.