我們對於「家」的解讀有了很大的改變，尤其是在我們在一年半前開始世界旅行之後，直到寫下這句話的此刻還是很不敢相信，我們已經旅行了這麼久。「家」的定義成為了我們四人的所在地，不論是從曼谷開往清邁的夜車、京都古色古香的京町家、梵蒂岡旁小小一間的青旅房間、有無敵海景的尼斯公寓、在保加利亞黑海旁共產主義時期的公寓、還是前有泥土路在路克索西岸的未建成房子，「家」是我們拖著行李待上一晚、一週、或一個月的地方。這樣的生活其實是需要花些力氣來建立起生活感的，都是些小細節，比方燕的娃娃和被被、每個人各自佔領的角落、能煮飯的廚房、每晚上床前的親親抱抱、在家看一部好電影，當然還有拖鞋，穿著室外鞋走進家裏，天理不容！
最印象深刻的總是路上萍水相逢的人們，當然，你得去看看埃及金字塔、羅馬競技場、雅典神廟和富士山，但是往往是那些路上遇見的人真正豐富了我們的旅程。去年聖誕節，我們在清邁，民宿的老闆娘Krong邀了些當地的朋友一起慶祝佳節，我們也在清邁認識些在旅行的其他家庭，這次的經驗讓我們明白，不管時間多短暫，我們還是能和其他人在旅途中有很深的交集。
在那之後，我們回臺灣接受鄉親們的熱情招待、和在蘭卡威的渡假酒店老闆聊永續經營、和Brian同遊新加坡並住在Helen的豪華公寓裡、在東京咖啡廳裡認識了Anna和她兩個自學的孩子、在佛羅倫斯的市場裡從旅行很久的Rachel身上學到很多、甜蜜的新婚夫妻在普羅旺斯的露營地教我們丟法式滾球、和Anna及Igor邊吃自家味邊聊黑山的旅遊業、六有機會參與索菲亞高中的機器人團隊、在路克索學習營與其他家庭深聊、和在開羅的台灣女孩Pony談她在埃及的生活，直到幾天前，我還在塞維亞的西班牙課堂上認識了英國紳士Patrick和他充滿冒險精神的家人。在細數這些美好的片段後，我深深明白我們一路上有多幸福。
當我看到世上人們的陰暗面之時，我需要提醒自己愛會戰勝一切。電影《星極穿越》裡有一句令我印象深刻的台詞：「愛是唯一我們能感知的事物，能超越時間和空間的規範，我們必須相信它，即使我們不完全理解它。」
大家聖誕節快樂！
The concept of home has shifted dramatically after we’ve delved into this nomadic lifestyle of worldschooling in the last year and half. It still awes me to even write down this sentence. Home has become wherever our tiny family is at the moment, may it be on the sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the 町家 “machiya” in Kyoto, the single room in the hostel near Vatican, the Nice apartment with the most amazing sea view, the old communist apartment by the Black Sea in Varna, or the unfinished house by the dirt road in Luxor West Bank. Home is where we pull our luggages to for the night, for the week, or for the month. This lifestyle requires some dedicated effort to make a place of stay feel like home. The little things like Annabelle’s stuffies and baby blanket, everyone’s claimed corner of whatever space we contain, a kitchen to cook, nightly hugs and kisses to tug into bed, a good movie for the night, and the Asian etiquette of indoor slippers. God forbid we ever enter a living space without removing our shoes!
The highlights of our journey are always the people we met on the road. Yes, you have to see the Pyramid in Giza, the Coliseum in Rome, the Parthenon in Athens, and Mt. Fuji in Japan, but the people that we encountered truly enriched our experience. Last Christmas, in Chiang Mai, we celebrated the holiday with our guesthouse host, Krong, and a group of her local friends. We also met a few wonderful traveling families passing through. It made us realize that we can still connect with others while traveling. However briefly, the interactions and conversations leave a deep impression on us.
After that, we had so much more. The always warm hospitality from our family in Taiwan, the talk about conservation with the resort owner in Langkawi, touring Singapore with Brian and staying at Helen’s luxury apartment, meeting Anna and her two homeschooled kids in a Tokyo cafe, learning about worldschooling from the veteran Rachel in a Florentine market, the sweet young couple that taught us French boules pétanque at the campground, the conversation about tourism in Montenegro with Anna and Igor over an exchange of home cooked foods, Leo helping out the highschool robotics team in Sofia, some deep conversations with other amazing traveling families in Luxor, understanding her life in Cairo over koshari with the Taiwanese girl Pony, and acquainting English gentlemen Patrick and his adventurous family through Spanish class just days ago in Sevilla. As I recount these interactions of kindness and humanity, I know how much we’ve been blessed along the way.
At times when I see the ugliness of humanity in the world, I need to remind myself that love will prevail. “Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. Maybe we should trust that, even if we can't understand it.”, from the movie “Interstellar”.
Merry Christmas, everyone!