Next up in our five-part special series of The Simple Show, I want to tell you about a little island in the Aegean Sea.

Closer to the Turkish mainland than the Greek one, this island in Greece is a welcome counterpart to the party life of Mykonos and has far fewer tourists than Santorini or Greece. And it’s lovely.

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Get your copy of At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe.

Reader & Listener Stories

• Where Do You Feel At Home in the World? by Emily
• Where Do You Feel at Home? by Stephanie
• Home is Where the Verdant Things Are by Mary
• At Home in the World Essay by Aimie
• At Home in the World by Sarah
• Two Places Where I Feel At Home in the World by Alicia
• Take Me Home by Clara
• Untertuerkheim: My Home Away from Home by Leslie

I live at a bend in the road. Literally. At the end of our driveway the street makes a hard 90-degree turn. On this road, in this town is the place I call home, Columbus, Georgia. :: In the spring you can find me at Lakebottom Park, home of Peach Little League, where kids have been playing baseball since 1952. If it’s a really good day, I have a raspberry mocha in hand from Midtown Coffeehouse down the street. :: In the summer we frequent the farmers’ market on Saturdays. Our wanderings end by the Chattahoochee River, watching adventurers raft down the longest urban whitewater rafting course in the world. And on an August Saturday night we pull lawn chairs out onto our driveway and wave as friends run the Midnight Express, a 5K race that comes down our bend in the road when the clock strikes twelve. At the finish line participants receive a barbecue sandwich and a sweet tea. The juxtaposition of a sweet tea following a run seems to describe Columbus perfectly. :: In the fall it is football season in SEC country. My husband has not missed a Georgia-Auburn game in 25 years. While we relish any opportunity to visit our alma mater in Athens, it sure is easier to scoot down the road to Auburn, 45 minutes away, to cheer on the Dawgs. :: Our winters are mild. Shorts season starts in February, which means we are often playing in our front yard, toys scattered about, or lounging on a blanket, reading the latest finds from our beloved local library. :: For a date night, we have three favorite local spots: 11th and Bay, Chili Thai, or Caffe Amici. “Uptown” is an exciting place to be in any season, and my ideal evening ends with a chai latte from Fountain City Coffee. :: A favorite memory here involves the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. My four-year-old son was in a major “Little Einsteins” phase. We attended a morning rehearsal of the CSO, and I will never forget the look on his face when he walked into the larger-than-life theatre filled with the beautiful sounds of an orchestra. It made my mama heart sing. :: Thank you, @tshoxenreider, for the encouragement to write about why #ilovethisplace. And congratulations on the release of #AtHomeInTheWorld!

A post shared by laura susan (@laurasusancreates) on Apr 19, 2017 at 12:18pm PDT

I realized yesterday that in a couple of years I will have lived in Switzerland just as long as I lived in Brisbane. I moved from Australia to Switzerland when I was 19, and although I didn’t spend my childhood here, I did “grow up” here and Switzerland has helped shape who I am today. It’s interesting how a couple of years ago the idea of “coming home” changed from visiting Brisbane to coming back to Switzerland. Switzerland is now home. I love the mountains, the seasons (however crazy they are) and I love the family I’ve created here. However in reality, I could probably make anywhere home as long as these four are with me. .. Where do you feel at home in the world? In celebration of @tshoxenreider new book #athomeintheworld she asked her readers to share where they feel at home in the world. A post shared by Kristin Reinhard (@simplefamilytravel) on Apr 19, 2017 at 10:30pm PDT

Piercing rays of sunlight and perfect blue skies greet us as we close the door to our apartment building and walk a block towards the main avenue. This twice-weekly routine of taking my daughter to school and then teaching piano at the university feels familiar now. Carefully squeeze into one seat on a Subaru-sized bus, backpacks stuffed precariously around our feet, jumping out at the corner store next to her school to buy a little bag of milk or juice for snack time. After school drop-off, hurry to another short bus ride or walk the 10 blocks to the public university if time allows, looking forward to the warm cup of quinoa porridge that awaits me at the always crowded and popular hot cereal kiosk at the university entrance. I’d better hurry up to sign-in on the old-fashioned ledger for Music faculty, all the while ignoring the new biometric thumbprint reading machines the university installed but doesn’t yet use. Walk two blocks east towards the Christ Redeemer statue – the landmark that perpetually, if not often unconsciously, guides us, unlock the classroom and begin to unpack my laptop and piano books for another busy morning of short piano proficiency lessons, one after another. The unique stories and dreams of each student inspire me, and make me want to dream again, to pour my energy into art and creative collaborations. Send a quick text to my husband that I’m finished for the morning and am walking home – enjoying the perfect spring-like weather after the dreariness of rainy season has past. I realize this place has seen quite a few rainy seasons of my own soul…but I see glimmers of spring and re-birth all around and within me. This land may frustrate me to no end on more days than I could count, but it’s the land that gave life to my husband and children, and deep down I truly do love it for the beautiful people that inhabit it. When I focus on this I can look past the broken systems that are simply more visible here than in other corners of the world, and I can truly say that I feel this is my home in the world. www.theartofsimple.net/athome #cochabamba #bolivia #athomeintheworld

A post shared by Rachel Vasquez (@raquelitabassquez) on Apr 19, 2017 at 8:06pm PDT

It seems fitting that I am photographing @tshoxenreider’s new book in a small apartment full of rented furniture in the middle of California. As a fellow vagabond homebody, I’m grateful for the way Tsh writes about traveling the world with kids AND the importance of home. The fact that two opposing things can be true at the same time makes incredible sense to me. Our family loves traveling for baseball and seeing different parts of the country. Our family also loves going home to Texas and feeling a sense of normalcy during the offseason. Which is why I think this book is perfect for anyone. Have a bad case of wanderlust? Grab this book. Love nothing more than curling up at home with a good book? Here’s the next one you should buy. #athomeintheworld A post shared by Alysa Bajenaru (@alysabajenaru) on Apr 19, 2017 at 5:25pm PDT

I’ve traveled a lot of the world in my 40-some years, but as much as I now enjoy staying home, I have always had a hankering to stow away with @tshoxenreider so I could see the world through her eyes. Now I can. We ALL can! ???I am so excited to take a trip ’round the world — by reading my friend Tsh’s new book #athomeintheworld. ??? Share in the comments a place you would most love to visit.

A post shared by Jennifer Dukes Lee (@dukeslee) on Apr 19, 2017 at 2:07pm PDT

@tshoxenreider ‘s #athomeintheworld has me thinking a lot lately about home and travel. I’ve grown up all over the world but ‘home’ is a little more nebulous to me. One place where my soul settled down though was the back porch of my grandparents house. I miss it and #Montana will forever be one of my homes. #athomelaunchteam #happier2017 A post shared by Amy Nelson (@amy_j_nelson) on Apr 20, 2017 at 8:22am PDT

And, on Facebook by Erin.

And this one by Rachel:

Join in!

Tell me about a place in the world you love! Head here for details*, and I’ll share them all this week in celebration of the book’s release into the world.

This weekend, I’ll share a final compilation.