People need homes: children assume their parents’ place as home; boarders call school ‘home’ on weekdays; married couples work together to build new homes; and travelers … have no place to call ‘home’, at least for a few nights.
So how about people who have to travel for extended periods of time? Don’t they have the right to a home? Of course they do.
Some regular travelers take their own belongings: like bed sheets, pillowcases and family photos to make them feel like home no matter where they are; some stay for long periods in the same hotel and as a result become very familiar with service and attendants; others may simply put some flowers by the hotel window to make things more homely. Furthermore, driving a camping car during one’s travels and sleeping in the vehicle at night is just like home – only mobile!
And how about maintaining relationships while in transit? Some keep contact with their friends via internet; some send letters and postcards, or even photos; others may just call and say hi, just to let their friends know that they’re still alive and well. People find ways to keep in touch. Making friends on the way helps travelers feel more or less at home. Backpackers in youth hostels may become very good friends, even closer than siblings.
Nowadays, fewer people are working in their local towns, so how do they develop a sense of belonging? Whenever we step out of our local boundaries, there is always another ‘home’ waiting to be found. Wherever we are, with just a little bit of effort and imagination, we can make the place we stay “home”.
旅人的家
人人都需要家：小孩子把父母的住所當做自己的家；寄宿生在平日把學校稱為‘家’；結了婚的夫妻要共同營造自己的新家；至于旅者呢……至少有幾晚他們要住在不能稱為‘家’的地方！
那么那些不得不長期出門在外的人怎么辦？難道他們無權擁有一個家嗎？他們當然有！
有些經常出門的旅者會隨身攜帶些屬于自己的日用品，像床單、枕套或全家福相片等，無論走到哪里，這些東西都能帶給他們家的感覺；有些人在長駐時會待在同一家旅館里，使他們對店里的服務和人員都非常熟稔；再有的就可能只是在旅館的窗邊擺些花，使房間更像個家。此外，一路開著露營車旅行，晚上就住在車里，這就更像是真正的家了——只不過能移動而已！
那人們在旅程穿梭時，又是如何維系關系的呢？有些人通過互聯網跟朋友聯絡；有些人寄信、明信片，甚至照片；還有些人可能只是打個電話問聲好，目的僅是讓朋友們知道他們還活著，而且活得不錯。人們發現了各種各樣的聯絡方式。在旅途中交朋友能幫旅者或多或少地找到一點家的感覺。青年旅店里的背包客也許會成為非常要好的朋友，甚至比手足還要親！
如今，大多數人都是離鄉在外工作，那么人們又如何能有歸屬感呢？一旦我們走出家門，就總有另一個‘家’在等著我們去尋找。不論身處何處，只要稍加努力和想像，我們就能把棲身之地營造成一個‘家’！
boarder n. 寄宿生
weekday n. 平日
hostel n. 旅店
sibling n. 兄弟姐妹
※本文作者：Tina※