We’ve been able to take vacation trips pretty regularly since about 2000. Over the years, we’ve collected various sayings that have stuck with us and have entered the lexicon of our everyday lives. Since we’re about to embark on another trip out west in about a month, I thought it would be good to rehearse some of these sayings.

“We live here.”

We began our sojourns as residents of southwest Florida, and our first few trips (and many more besides) were to the mountains of western North Carolina.

Living for twenty-five years on the coastal edge of the Florida peninsula, at about 10 feet above sea level, gives you a certain perspective. And while living near the ocean helps bind one to the sense of size of this planet, there is also a need for the soul to experience an “altitude adjustment.”

My wife approached me one day with the announcement that she was going to take a vacation to North Carolina. Not “we.” “I am going to North Carolina.” I kind of swallowed and stammered, “Am…am…I invited?” She informed me that I could come along, but she was definitely going. If that sounds like we required immediate marriage counseling, I can see that. But that’s really just her way of including me in her plans.

As residents of one of the flattest states in America (high point, 345 feet), we were continually amazed at the wonder of multiple horizons of mountain ridges and valleys. “Layers,” we called them. At the ability to get up high and set our gaze at distant sights. Seeing the sun drop behind land instead of water.

After a few summers of trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains, as well as some additional Thanksgiving trips, we began to entertain thoughts of moving to the area. I had grown up in Ohio, and she spent a good deal of her childhood in New England, so we were both familiar with four-season, temperate climates. Long story short, we were able to purchase a home in late 2008 and move in June 2009.

I really feel like our new home is a lot like the description Samwise Gamgee gave Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring, to the effect that being there was like being at home and on holiday at the same time.

Now, as we drive through our neighborhood, our thoughts often go back to those early times when, as tourists, we drove these same roads. And one thought pops into our minds, and even into our conversation.

“We live here.”

It’s a gentle reminder that what once caught our attention as visitors is still there for us as residents. It’s a nudge to not take these experiences for granted despite the fact that we see them every day.

It helps us remember that we’re at home and on holiday at the same time.