The Geography Of Our Lives

In her recent column for The Guardian, Madeleine Bunting poses an interesting question -- one particularly close to expats' hearts: "How do you decide where home is?" In a world of hyper mobility, where change is a fact of life, place has lost relevance, and global nomadism has become a non event, Bunting reflects on the geography of our lives, and the political, cultural and environmental forces behind a renewed engagement with place. Localism is making a comeback, she says; rootlessness has had its day. The way forward is an "impulse for home," a "shared commitment" with the community. A laudable proposition, and an attractive one, but one that is not easily compatible with the expat life. To nomads, home -- the real home -- is where the heart is; place is immaterial -- for better or worse.
image Antonio Segui's Tour Eiffel