Editor's Note: Volume 4
by Khairul Nan
My flight from the Copenhagen airport to Berlin one winter night was delayed until midnight due to bad weather. To make things worse, my booked accommodation in Berlin was cancelled because late check-in wasn’t allowed (ridiculous!), which meant I had to find a new place to crash in less than an hour. Lucky I found a place quickly through Airbnb Instant Book. (I secretly hope Joe Gebbia reads this. You’re a lifesaver!)
The clock ticked at 1am when I arrived in Berlin. I walked in heavy wind and snow looking for my recently-booked Airbnb in the Hermanstrasse area, 20 minutes’ train ride away from Schönefeld Airport. It was annoying how my luggage’s wheels kept getting stuck in the thick snow.
When I finally found it, I was relieved by the smile my host put on when he greeted me at the door, despite the late check-in. Jone’s warm welcome made me feel at home. When we chatted, it felt like we were old friends catching up. I couldn’t get enough of his interesting stories.
Jone is a Berlin-born German who had grown up in Ethiopia and Nepal. He had studied in United Kingdom and France, but currently pursuing his studies at Humboldt University of Berlin. His parent lives in Bangladesh and he has a girlfriend who’s studying in China. Jone speaks Amharic as a foreign language. Jone’s amazing life journey had intrigued me to explore the definition of home. He had expressed how the idea of home can vary, how it can be spontaneous and not so fun sometimes.
Home is where we develop character and regress when we get too comfortable. We fall in love with strange surroundings, immerse ourselves in new routines and completely live out of our norms. The beauty of wandering yet realising being away can be our “home” too - a way of life. Travel does just that.
To echo my journey, here’s Musotrees Volume 4 - the Home Issue, welcome!