Why You Never Go Back to Your Hometown
There’s a reason why you never come back once you leave your hometown. You never consider living in the same place again, especially when your ambitions become too big for the roof to contain. Despite all the memories that pull you back to comfort and familiarity whenever you see the walls of the room that you grew up in, you shrug a shoulder and always convince yourself that “it has been for the better.”
When I decided to leave the house at the age of 21, I never had the thought of going back permanently. Throughout my journey in life, I had to temporarily seek shelter when a job opportunity failed to last longer than I wanted it. My parents, siblings and our wonderful home became the sanctuary where I licked my wounds before gearing up for another opportunity.
Big dreams and bold ambitions cause you to never look back. It’s too deadly to feel the warmth of the same bed and pillows where you spent most of your sleeping hours. It’s detrimental to see the same familiar faces who you know will love you unconditionally. Old childhood habits that you’ve practiced for years and years whisper for you to stay. Mom’s meals can’t be beaten by any restaurant that you pay a visit to, they’re just not easily to replicate. And trust me, it’s really convincing to say, “Well, what the hell. Let me enjoy and be comfortable.”
But when life unfolds, along with dreams and opportunities—knocking on your door on all fronts, you can’t help but to welcome them. Bad opportunities strengthen you while the good ones allow you to persevere. Like a diamond, you navigate yourself through the ups and downs, polishing your character, sanding down your rough edges and weaknesses until you become as brilliant as you can be. From this moment on, you’ve already rewired your brain to think that the world is your oyster, you’ll survive anywhere.
Once you’re established and become self-sufficient, you don’t seek return to the same old place that you long for so much. Your hometown becomes an inspiration to remind you how far you’ve gone and that you can always come back if anything wrong happens. Comfort kills dreams. That’s the reason why as a traveler, as an immigrant, you can’t go back.
When you begin to become a traveler, you will find satisfaction in little things that are foreign to you. Have you ever heard an airplane take off, the vibration that the engine makes that causes you to lose confidence a little bit in flying? How about how the air smells in a different country? People have different sense of humors, and I dare you to try to understand a Scottish man when they talk. Probably experiencing Mardi Gras or lighting up a floating lantern in Taiwan? There’s plenty of experiences to look forward to!
The world is too beautiful and big for you not to have awe-inspiring stories to tell your parents while they admire you over the screen of your phone. They miss you, they long for you-but nothing makes them prouder than hearing your voice 20,000 miles away, telling them that you’ve reached your dreams and that you’ve done things that they will never experience in their lifetime.
This is not selfishness.
This is about finding what you were meant to become.