I left Yugoslavia twice, in 1970 and again in 1979, when I promised myself never to return except for summer vacations. I left the United States for the first time in 1975, when it appeared that I would stay in Yugoslavia forever. I will leave the United States again in 1990, perhaps for good. The United Kingdom, where I will move in the summer, will be my fifth home, as it were. If everything goes according to my present plans, around my fiftieth birthday I will move again, this time to Italy. The idea of living in Venice or Florence attracts me very much. My sixth home should be my last. But who knows? I have become accustomed to changing countries like shoes!

Addendum I (August 1, 2015)

Changing countries like shoes, I eventually ended up in Croatia, which was still a part of Yugoslavia at the time this piece was written. Although I live in a town that was in Venetian hands between the Thirteenth and Eighteenth Century, it is a far cry from Venice of my erstwhile dreams. At best, I can visit it whenever it strikes my fancy, for it is only a few hours by either car or boat from my home. And this is what I like to do whenever an opportunity arises. Travel is far from attractive to me at this stage of my life, but it is different with Venice. Very different. Every visit, no matter how brief, strikes me as another homecoming. The sights, the sounds, the smells… Deep in my bones, I am Venetian. My sixth home, as it were, is thus quite to my liking, and it may well remain close to my heart till my last day. As the crow flies, it is one-hundred and seventeen kilometers away from Venice, and no less than one-hundred kilometers of it is by sea. My beloved Adriatic Sea.

Addendum II (February 16, 2023)

Having stumbled upon this piece and the previous addendum purely by chance, I am stunned. And literally so. Even though my last hometown is pretty close to Venice indeed, I have not been there for quite a few years. As it happens, I cannot even remember when I have visited the city of my dreams for the last time. It must have been in the early years of this millennium, but that is all I can be sure about. The way my life has evolved, chances are that I will not visit Venice any time soon, if ever again. And I am getting used to this fusion of proximity and remoteness as years go by. I am still Venetian, but an ancient one. Very like a ghost, as a matter of fact. My Venice is long gone, and thus it is out of my reach forever. Visiting it would amount to a farce at best. That is, sham, mockery, charade, disgrace, absurdity… All that remains of its glory is beguiling scenery bereft of meaning and purpose. Crammed with tourists, it is best avoided by those who remain Venetians at heart. Perhaps the only way for me to visit this city of my ancestors is by reading about its splendid past. Luckily for me, the sights, the sounds, and the smells of ancient Venice are with me for good.