Fernweh

Fernweh seems to be a uniquely German concept.  I should actually rather say that there is no word in English for it-  and I don’t speak any other language well enough to know whether a good translation exists.  Still, it is sort of a weltschmerz, gestalt, weltanschauung type of word – somehow it makes sense in the context of all things German.

Fernweh on my mind, pic: zazzle.com

The closest translation in English, ironically, is another German word: wanderlust.  The fact that this is the closest “English” translation, does not mean it is a good one.  Fernweh is a yearning  to be someplace else – the polar opposite of Heimweh or homesickness (funny how there is a pretty good word for this in English).  And therefore it differs from wanderlust which indicates more of a desire to travel, to see the world, have adventures.

The two words are sort of like hunger and appetite.  As in “hunger for life” and “appetite for adventure” – one a deep rooted desire, part and parcel of a person and the other more capricious, more of a mood.

Saying that the word is uniquely German does not mean that the concept is not found in other places.  In fact, I think Fernweh is one of the essential characteristics of an expat.  As long as I can think I wanted to be somewhere else.  I always waned to go on vacation and never did I want to return.  I never was homesick a day in my life.  Wherever I went I (almost) always (there are always exceptions, like Paris in my case, believe it or not) thought I could live there, in fact, have a better live there than at home.

Weird, though, how this kind of loops back on itself when you live somewhere else for a long time and what used to be home becomes the “Ferne” – the distant place.  Now I sometimes find myself  – longingly – thinking of my hometown in Germany – and for the life of me can’t figure out whether it is Fernweh or Heimweh.