Sojourner (n): A temporary resident; a person who resides temporarily in a place but regards themselves as belonging elsewhere.

Like so many children of immigrants, I’ve spent most of my life feeling like I have one foot in a distant village and the other in the country of my birth, the place my grandparents sought for a “better” life. I’m a woman with two homes: the modern one where the delivery drivers know my name, and the one halfway across the world where life is simpler and where I often feel more “myself” than I ever do here.

In midlife, I’ve realised that this restlessness isn’t a flaw—it’s my identity. And as a person of faith, I’m also a sojourner: temporarily passing through, hopefully on my way to Heaven one day.

The problem? I’ve started packing for this “temporary stay” like I’m staying forever. The lure of instant online gratification and parade of deliveries is at odds with the humility and simplicity I seek, and here too I live in between.

I’m Ana. I’m a traveller, a shopper, a wife, mother and grandmother, a daughter of God Almighty, and a work in progress. A sojourner trying to figure out what to carry and what to leave behind.

Welcome to the journey.