There are things that we say, like the title of this article, that seem like clichés. They come across as tossaway lines, things you’re supposed to say but don’t carry weight. Then you hear that sentence or phrase in a different setting, and you realize the impact.

This year, my husband and I are on the road. We’ve been in Hot Springs, Arkansas, since the end of January. We’ll then move onto Lexington, Kentucky, for the summer and then try out another place or two before the end of the year.

So, as we are in Hot Springs for a good chunk of time, it’s kind of like home. We’re staying in a condo we’ve rented that’s nicely decorated, although it’s not our own decor. We have a well-stocked kitchen, but most of the items in there are not from my kitchen. (I did bring a few need to have items for my work at Think Tasty but not enough to make it feel fully like my old kitchen.)

During our first week here, I felt not quite in my own skin. I guess it’s like that at any new location. But unlike other moves, it wouldn’t become my own with the unpacking of boxes and firmly setting roots.

And yet, by a few days into our stay, I felt at home. I knew the surroundings and was more comfortable here. I didn’t see our clock in the living room, our artwork in the dining room, or our dishes in the kitchen, but this place began to feel like home home.

Why, then, did this place begin to feel like home? The short answer is my husband. As empty nesters, it’s just the two of us on this year’s journey. Although we don’t have a physical location that is our home, we do have each other. This cues up the oft clichéd phrase:

Home is where you are.

Overused or overly sentimental, it is true. Home isn’t necessarily a physical construction; it is more of an emotional item. Being in a different location without many of our possessions doesn’t mean that we’re without a home. We have a home because we are together.

Every place we will stay this year will neither be owned nor decorated by us, but yet each of them will be home. How lucky are we to have each other and thus our home.