Don told me over dinner one night recently that one of the things he’d been a bit afraid of before we became nomads and set out on this long-term travel was that he’d miss home cooking. Apparently he doesn’t. Good thing, since I don’t even remotely miss home cooking. I love not having to cook.

What I miss, sometimes, is not being able to eat at home, wherever home might be. Sometimes I just don’t want to go out for dinner. Or breakfast for that matter.

Every hotel is home now, and on arrival we unpack, hang our clothes in the cupboard if there is one, and do all we can to make the room home and not be living literally out of a suitcase.

The hotels I love the most, that give the greatest feeling of home, have two things in addition to the basics (clean, wifi, private bathroom, good location). They have an electric kettle so I can make myself a cup of tea first thing in the morning, and they have a restaurant with good food. The best so far have been Samui Beach Resort on Koh Samui, Thailand, and the Umaid Bhawan Hotel in Jaipur, India. Both had restaurants that had really good food so we didn’t have to go out for dinner, or breakfast. We could eat at home. There’s some days I really appreciate that.


Photo of the day: On the river, downtown Phnom Penh, heading home at the end of the day


All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted.
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2015.