These Four Walls

On the spaces we inhabit and the meaning of home.

Author’s Note: This email list grew by 30% after that last post and lots of you got in touch about it. So, I’m going to keep getting personal in this space. And I’m going to continue recording audio versions too. If you’re new around here, welcome to Global Natives, a newsletter about borderless living. Take out a paid subscription for $35 a year to support my writing.

I stand at the window and look out over the Magere Bridge.

Amsterdammers on bicycles speed across it, dodging dogs and pedestrians as they go. Some of them are transporting kids in Copenhagen-style carts. People are wearing shades and carrying biodegradable coffee cups. I’ve witnessed this summer scene before. In fact, I’ve occupied this viewing spot hundreds of times, in every season of the year and at every hour of the day—thinking about what I want, what matters, what’s possible.

A couple of weeks after leaving London, I’m back to my makeshift homebase: Zoku Amsterdam. It’s the place I’ve returned to most over the past …