Probably more applicable to people who grew up in one place for a lot of their life, but I was thinking about what I’ve mentioned about making old friends in relation to where you live.
As I was driving through Austin this evening, I realized that I was driving to a location I didn’t know well with a fair amount of ease. I didn’t have to look it up even though I didn’t know exactly where it was, but I knew the area well enough to know I could make it there.
That’s a feeling I didn’t expect. A somewhat homey feeling. Comfort of knowing where I am and being familiar with a place.
At the same time, it didn’t feel the same as driving around in my hometown. There’s a different level of familiarity that comes from living in the same town your whole life. I think what makes it similar to what I’ve mentioned about old friends is that you’ve had memories in so many more places. Having lived in a place for 19 years, you have so many memories in so many places around that city. Even places you don’t go that often have some sort of a memory connected to them.
As I drove through Austin, I was familiar with the roads and some of the big landmarks, but if you told me to name the banks on the side of the road I’d be lost. I don’t remember a bunch of the businesses on the side of the road. Back home (though this might change depending on how fast your city expands) I feel like I know all the restaurants and businesses that I drive by, even on the highway.
Perhaps after a very long time of living in a place, you could start to have a similar feeling as you did with your first hometown, but similarly to your old friends, you will never have memories going back so long in any other place.
Going back to your home town will always feel like a weird combination of vivid and vague memories all mixed together in a blender of nostalgia.