Facing the choose-your-own-adventure crossroads

I often look at life as a choose-your-own-adventure novel, the kind where the reader faces a series of narrative crossroads, and the choices they make along the way determine the outcome of the story. When I was a kid, maybe nine or 10, I could tear through one of those books in an afternoon; only I never wanted to choose just one path — after hitting the end of one version of the story, I would go back to each turning point in the novel and change my choices, trying to work through every possible ending.

In real life it’s rare to get the chance to revisit those crossroads moments. But this summer I did just that.

Home is where (and what) you make it

Exactly one month ago, I left Alberta on a flight to Ontario for the holidays — and I’ve been living out of a (rather large) suitcase ever since.

I spent two weeks visiting family and friends before catching a red-eye flight back out West, and stopped in Canmore just long enough to do a load of laundry and re-pack for an extended New Year’s getaway visiting friends in the B.C. interior. This past week, even though I returned to work, I stayed in Nelson to work out of our office there and get a little face-time with some colleagues I rarely see.

As much as I’m feeling ready to go home, unpack and wake up in my own bed for a change, If there’s one thing I’ve discovered in the past month, it’s that “home” can be wherever you chose to make it.