Homebound
Thanksgiving Passage
The Annual Thanksgiving Pilgrimage Begins
About Homebound
Homebound marks the beginning of the Thanksgiving pilgrimage, a ritual as old as the holiday itself. The lucky ones will walk just a few houses over, some of us will cross time zones, and the truly pitiable will transit through Newark. Either way, today is about the mixed emotions of returning home. The familiar sights of your old neighborhood, the nostalgia of your childhood bedroom, and the anticipation of seeing family again can stir both joy and trepidation. Homebound invites you to document the chaos of holiday travel while embracing the bittersweet beauty of returning to a place you love, to see people you love.
Ways to observe
(A) Low effort
Snap a photo from your travel route, whether it’s a picturesque landscape or a crowded airport terminal, and send it to family with a quick note about your journey.
(B) Recommended
Make a playlist of nostalgic songs for your journey and take a few moments to reflect on the feelings of heading home. Share your favorite memories of the trip with family when you arrive.
(C) High effort
Create a travel vlog or photo diary documenting your entire trip home. Capture the highlights, the mishaps, and moments of reflection. Pair it with music or narration and share it at Thanksgiving dinner as a lighthearted tribute to the pilgrimage.
Inspiration
While Peaceable Kingdom (yesterday’s holiday) is about reconciling with that relative—the one who always drives you crazy at Thanksgiving—Homebound shifts focus to the emotional arc of returning home. It divides neatly into two acts: first, the harrowing journey itself, a natural epicenter of frustration given that everyone else on Earth is simultaneously having their own travel-related breakdown; and second, the vaguely soul-crushing realization that you can never really go home. Returning to your childhood house is like reverse dying: instead of seeing your life flash before your eyes, your childhood rises from the carpeted depths like a zombie, to stare you down, to reacquaint you with every insecurity you thought you’d outgrown. Of course, your mileage may vary. Some people get a thrill from stepping into their preserved childhood bedrooms.
But I’m firmly in the camp that says you’re better off when your parents convert that bedroom into a makerspace. It’s easier to face your past when it’s been repurposed into a 3D printing lab.
Adornments
Watch
The Straight Story (1999)
An elderly man rides a lawnmower hundreds of miles across the Midwest to reunite with his estranged brother in this gentle, true-story road movie.
Home for the Holidays (1995)
A charming dramedy about a woman braving a Thanksgiving visit to her eccentric family, only to find that the insanity and love of home are exactly what she needs. This holiday gem captures the mess, humor, and comfort of returning to the nest when everything (and everyone) is a little crazy.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
A hilarious and heartfelt tale of two mismatched travelers trying desperately to get home for Thanksgiving. What begins as slapstick spirals into something richer: a meditation on empathy and the unexpected bonds that can form along the journey.
Listen
Homecoming (Walter’s Song) by Vienna Teng
A piano-led indie ballad that captures the mood of revisiting the places you left behind. The lyrics reflect the dislocation and second-guessing that can come with returning to your hometown after time away.
La maison où j’ai grandi by Françoise Hardy
A French pop hit from 1966 about visiting the house you grew up in. It’s a clean, compact version of the homecoming narrative—no big catharsis, just recognition that time has moved on.
Read
On Going Home by Joan Didion
In this classic, incisive essay, Didion considers the gap between her adult life and the world she came from. Her language is spare, unsentimental, and sharp, capturing the discomfort and complexity of revisiting childhood places that no longer feel like home.
Share
Track-and-Share Your Journey
Use an app like Polarsteps or FindPenguins to document your trip home. The apps record your route automatically—GPS-powered, battery-safe, and even offline—while you add a few photos or brief notes at rest stops. Your family or friends can follow along in real time or catch up after you arrive.