What is home?

Home.
The place you spend every single day and every single night.
An important place, emotionally and physically.

For me, realizing that this ship, the Thor Heyerdahl, now is my new home did take its time.
I guess the first mental step was the actual moving-in during the wharf.
Having one crisis after another, we began sorting our stuff into the tiny shelves and under the bunks. I must admit that it was a pure chaos. As soon as one bag lay on the floor, there was no more space for our feet. At least that’s what it felt like. But after having unpacked all our stuff, every cabin actually looked like a bedroom. In order to make it feel even more comfortable, many of us had brought printed personal photos to pin on the walls next to our bunks.

Another part of the moving-in was trying to fit in all the donations and our food resources into our, in this case, tiny ship. After having completed this task too, looking into the messroom was not as bad as in the beginning anymore. All the stuff was tidied up and packed away, mostly under the benches by the tables. This result made another part of the ship feel more like home, because in our life here the messroom is a room for gathering, whether it’s for meals, chatting or for school. That’s why it is so important to turn it into a living room.

The first days after the wharf and after leaving Kiel were filled with information and organizing our new life.vI personally was really glad when an actual daily rhythm began to establish itself. The first night watches took place, we cooked by ourselves and we got the instructions for using the washing machine. So just like normal life you could say.

Except that it is not normal at all. Living on 7 square meters with four other people.
Getting up at two in the morning to fulfil the duties of a night watch, no matter the weather or temperature.
Gathering for updates on our route, for example storms we must wait for to pass or our possibilities to enter a country on the other side of the world.
Not being able to sleep because the waves constantly throw you from one side of the bed to the other.
Cooking for 50 people instead of four.
Not that normal, is it?

But that does not mean being part of this isn’t amazing. In fact, to me it means the complete opposite. Because not only did the ship become my home as a place, but also the people here are family, an important part of the concept “home”. In our daily life we all are dependent on each other as a crew. Now, bonding with the others through making the same experiences, it really feels like home.

Along our way we are going to face challenges, but:
Home is a place where you meet your loved ones.
Where you sit at the dinner table and laugh about silly stuff.
Where you get support.
Well, that’s what it should be like for me. And that’s what I’ve found here.

Home.