I believe that once you have moved from your home town you are never considered to be from' the place you have moved to no matter how long you live there. I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, Are you OK with being considered different from the community you live in?'

I was born and raised in the UK until the age of nine when my parents immigrated to South Africa. At first it was exciting moving to a different country but when I started school reality soon set in. The community was less accepting of people who were different and they called us names like pommy' and red neck'.

As I matured into adulthood, got married and settled down I thought that I would finally be considered one of them' but I was wrong. My husband's family referred to me as the pommy', albeit fondly, but it was a reminder that they didn't consider me to be from' there even though I had lived in South Africa for many years. When you are born in a different country from the one you live in you have different values and beliefs which are instilled in you by your parents and no matter how much you try to be part of your adopted community, you never are.

As an adult I came to realize that it actually didn't bother me that South Africans never considered me to be from' there as I had never considered myself to be a South African. I was proud of my British roots and who I was.

After living in South Africa for twenty years I decided to move back to the UK and thought, 'Finally, I'm home where everything is familiar and everyone will consider me to be one of them.' Wrong again. I had been away for too long and was now considered different from the people in my home town where families had lived for generations, few had traveled and most were quite narrow-minded. I have been back in the UK for fourteen years and even now whenever I meet people they say, 'You're not from around here, are you?'

I'm not typically British nor am I South African, so what am I? The term that springs to mind is nomad'. Having traveled quite a bit, I don't consider myself to be from' anywhere and although I was born a Brit I know I've changed too much to actually be one. And you know what, I'm OK with that. I think traveling develops you as a person; it makes you more interesting, open-minded and accepting of ways that are not your own. Some people like to feel that they belong, that they are part of the community they live in and that's fine too. For me, however, I am still searching for a place that feels like home and perhaps one day I'll find it.

Learn more about this author, Chloe X.
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