Some of us get asked the same questions so often that it’s become routine: What are you? Where are you from? And of course, the infamous follow-up: No, where are really you from?
We roll our eyes and loudly sigh. Some of us have straightforward answers that name a city we were born and raised in; for others, declaring “where we’re from” can be complicated. A homeland can be a place with a postal code, a land within borders; it can be the city that you’ve never left. Or it can be a story that’s told about a country that we’ve never set foot in, or somewhere so distant that it’s more of a feeling than a physical space.
When we talk about travel, we often think about going to new, faraway places—but what does it mean to travel to one’s homeland, either by car, plane, a favorite meal, or a memory?
As we near the holiday season and the beginning of a new year, we’re getting in our feelings with our latest theme, “Homeland.” When we talk about travel, we often think about going to new, faraway places—but what does it mean to travel to one’s homeland, either by car, plane, a favorite meal, or a memory? Sometimes we travel to escape our lives, and there are times when we travel to embrace where we’re from. We wanted to look at all the ways we think about, visit, and explore our different homelands—because we all come from somewhere, after all.
Our contributors are revisiting their homelands: through stories passed down from their parents about their lives in Somalia, by cooking their favorite Filipino dish while settling into their new home in New Zealand, and by taking a look through the perspective of the diaspora of Puerto Rico and a beloved island that is in recovery and rebuilding. We’re also excited about the launch of the next season of the podcast: be on the lookout for that. And our latest city guide is a must-read for the New York City you won’t see anywhere else. Pack your bags, get ready to be in your feelings, and take a trip with us to our homelands.