The places I call home

For the travelers amongst us

Let me clarify and say that this post comes to you from a confessed travel-addict, plane-lover and airport-fanatic. I love nothing more than traveling, getting to experience new cultures, foods and gaining incredible memories with my loved ones. However when I get to thinking about my travels I note that very often I have a different outlook on travel to many people. For example, when I go on holiday with my parents, more often than not by the end of the holiday my mum wants to go home and my dad misses the Ukrainian food that my mum cooks him. I have always been different and I have only recently discovered and delved deeper into what I really feel and I wanted to share that with you today.

Before I dive into this I should also say that this post was inspired by the lovely Inthefrow’s blogpost all about homes + travel, you can find it here. A lot of the posts she writes are thought-provoking, and this one is no exception.

My experience with travel has always been the same – I went to a country not knowing what to expect and on my flight back to UK/Ukraine I will be wiping my tears away because I have fallen in love with that particular place and I never wanted to leave. I like to call these places “my home”, not for any other reason than that I genuinely feel like I am at home every time I visit them.

I should also perhaps say that unlike the majority of people I know I don’t tend to associate myself with a particular country. People will ask me where I am from and I will tell them – my nationality is Ukrainian, I live in the UK, but that’s not the whole story. I don’t consider myself tied to a country, because I feel like I live in multiple countries simultaneously. To people who don’t experience the same this perhaps might sound superficial, almost like wishful thinking. But to me, this is generally what I believe in therefore I wanted to share it with you here.

I have been fortunate enough to visit so many beautiful places and countries, but here are some places I can truly call home now:

1. London. I visit London very regularly and despite never being lucky enough to live there long-term, I have stayed at various hotels multiple nights and been to most parts of London. It’s a city full of culture, incredible restaurants and so much to do you never get bored. V&A’s exhibitions alone make me swoon because every single one they put on just seems to be so interesting and unique. The amount of forward-looking cuisine, as well as my favourite restaurant that serves Russian/Ukrainian will truly satisfy any food taste. I am sure many of you have been in London by now, but if you haven’t, you absolutely must visit this city. It is a firm favourite of many and I think it will become yours too.
2. Paris. Despite only visiting Paris twice, I feel like my trips to Paris are very close to becoming bi-annual, because it is just that good. Whilst being a capital city like London, the vibe is a lot more relaxed; and you just cannot beat the shopping there. Sightseeing is pretty spectacular too, and the food. OH EM GEE the food. I wrote a whole blogpost on Paris so if you want to read more, head over here.
3. India, in particular Goa. I have been to India multiple times with my parents; we went to beautiful beach resorts as well as taking a bus tour across the country once. Essentially what I am trying to portray is that is safe to say I’ve seen most of India, with its wealth gap and all other disadvantages people may think of. However, at the same time this country is one of the most spectacular out there! People are happy no matter what, they always have something to celebrate ( literally ) and the fruit there is unlike anything you can buy here. The history is also pretty insane, so I would seriously suggest going sightseeing there because it is beautiful and very different to what you might see in Europe.
4. Rome. I must admit that I just feel more alive, but at the same time more chilled when I am in Rome. People love their food and their wine ( if this doesn’t give away that this is 100% my favourite place, I don’t know what will ), there is an incredible emphasis on family and of course the inspirations behind so many Italian fashion houses can be seen everywhere, and I love it! The sights are pretty spectacular too; a special thing about Rome is that you never know where you are going to end up and what you are going to see. I particularly encourage you to wander around and search for places, because you are guaranteed to find a little hidden church or a square that won’t be on any touristy map you buy, and it will be just as beautiful and breathtaking as all of them!

My jumpsuit is Ted Baker, my heels are old ( similar here ), bag is Michael Kors, and the Alphabet scarf is from Dior.

Is there a country that you feel mostly relates to you? Let me know below!

Love,

S xxx