2 ms·

I was born in Toronto, moved around a bunch as a kid, and Toronto just never felt like home. If I was going to Toronto, I'd never say "I'm going home to Toronto

I was born in Toronto, moved around a bunch as a kid, and Toronto just never felt like home. If I was going to Toronto, I'd never say "I'm going home to Toronto". I moved to Whistler, BC when I was 20, and lived there most of my life. I now live in Sydney, Australia, and when I say "I'm going home", I mean I'm going to Whistler, not Toronto. Whistler feels like home. Yet, when I say "I'm from Whistler", people always say "you were born there?" which is very rare, so I have to explain that I moved around a bunch and didn't have a place that felt like "home", which people then discount. It's very strange, but at the same time, I've read a few people suggest that you're "from" the first place you consciously decided to move from and stayed.

partomniscient 6y ago
I don't think its that strange. Its just a side effect of those people who are and think of themselves as "from" where they grew up or first moved to projecting their way of thinking onto others. It's easier for them to shoehorn their version of your story/situation into their mental framework than it is to adapt their mental framework to handle your story/situation. I still catch myself unecessarily projecting my way of thinking onto situations which distorts what is actually going on or loses information, just because its easier to do - not because its correct or fair. They can misunderstand you, but they don't get to decide how you define 'home' to yourself, even if they discredit you.