I Could Live Here: A Travel Memoir of Home and Belonging

by Ellen Barone

Ellen Barone and her husband, Hank, are living a comfortable, creative life when they learn their rented house has sold. With no immediate solution, they hatch a plan to live in Mexico for the length of a visitor visa. They then move to Nicaragua. Then Ecuador …

What ensues over the next decade of long-stay travel, as they migrate from one continent to the next across the Americas and Europe, is an uncertain yet fulfilling quest to discover their new home. Is it a long-term place they love, with the familiarity of accumulated belongings? Or is it being nomadic, future unknown but ever adapting and exploring?

I Could Live Here is an intrepid woman's open-hearted chronicle of change and adaptation—and joys and discoveries—that come with seeking one's place in the world and what it means to be home.

Genres: Travel

309 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2023

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has dreamed about the nomad life, I really enjoyed this memoir. The author does a great job explaining her hesitations, fears and joys of all their time on the road. She describes the places in detail and makes her special friendships come alive.

[Ellen Behrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen Barone, a freelance travel writer and photographer, and her husband Hank, a retired teacher, are unexpectedly forced to move. After thirteen years in New Mexico, ensconced in what most of us would consider a luxurious home, they found themselves looking at the home they had created and decorated with furniture and objects they'd collected from around the world.

They decide to move to Mexico, a frequently-visited country, and a place they'd considered moving to before settling in New Mexico. What begins as dipping their toes in the water to test the temperature becomes a swan dive into the deepest end of a very big body of water. A year of traveling from one country to another, staying a few months here or there, then moving on, becomes a second year, then a third, then eight years across three continents.

Barone explores the ideas of home and of friendship, and considers what it is that makes one comfortable in a particular place. While the mystery generally exceeds her book (though for her "home" is where Hank is, simple enough), she clearly demonstrates that possessions and a conventional "house" don't necessarily equal "home."

At one point I thought, "Wow! This couple has figured out the best way to couch surf around the globe." But that's not really what's going on here, though it certainly benefited them to have friends scattered across several countries who are willing to take them in or help them locate a place to stay. And having retirement income plus freelance jobs to support this lifestyle means they never seemed to be in danger of being what most of us would consider "homeless" or "houseless." Rather, call it "elective roving," Barone writes.

What makes Barone's book so readable is her practiced, well-crafted descriptions of the places and people they meet, of the ways they forge a daily routine regardless of where in the world they are. For the adventurous among us, she serves as an inspiration: we did this, unexpectedly yet willfully, so why not you? (This is not to suggest the book is a how-to become an ex-pat, mind you.)

Those of us who've lived a nomadic lifestyle ("electively roving") will appreciate Barone's ability to synthesize complicated and nuanced experiences so they form a coherent and compelling story. I wanted more, but, sadly, this is the only book I've found from her about her experiences. More, please!

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Debbie downer

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this aloud to J - it was interesting as we are always considering the nomad life. There were some parts that totally could have been edited out, but was a sweet story of modern nomads.

[Kelsey Mangeni (kman.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t rate this one so highly because it’s so so incredibly written, but because of how it made me feel. This isn’t your typical 20/30 something travel log. In the prologue, this married couple sets out on their “homeloose” journey they are 54 & 81. And that’s what drew me into their story. This book follows their journey through (mostly) Latin America for several years, and I found it to be an incredibly interesting lifestyle.

In my real life I am super inspired by people discovering their second acts when their kids are grown or into retirement. Not giving up on life or settling down in old age, but seeing what else life has to offer. It gives me so much hope for the chapter of my own future life still to be written.

This book is heavy on the people they met while traveling, and I can see how it would get repetitive for some readers, but I loved it. She also very rarely acknowledges the amount of privilege it takes to pull off this kind of lifestyle for 9+ years.

Thankful for my aunt’s quarterly book club, otherwise I’m not sure I ever would have discovered this book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the fresh perspective in this unconventional nomad memoir, which departs from the typical narrative told by younger, hostel-hopping travelers. Instead, it offers a more mature and introspective take, focusing deeply on the relationships and meaningful connections formed along the journey. While the author's honesty about self-doubt, anxiety, and overthinking adds emotional depth and authenticity, these elements at times felt overly dominant, occasionally overshadowing the more compelling aspects of the story.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-1/2 stars

[Winter Kuhaupt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spent basically the entirety of my time reading this book thinking about the age gap

[Miliana D · Rating 4 out of 5]

ThIs travel memoir us more about the people and conversations that were had and less about the places. Although this was an interesting memoir I hav no desire to visit any of the places mentioned.

[Olivia Mohney · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice memoir on the reality of nomad life. I felt the writing was a little difficult to get into, and the authors own personal lamenting on her anxiety felt exhausting.