do other people not have a hometown?

I have a related question about birthplaces. When I was in DC for Julianafest, I went to the Natl Portrait Gallery. On all the 20th-century portraits they had a version of "Born XTown, YState" after the person's name. If a form asks where I was born, I put Hartford, CT because that's where the hospital was, even though my family lived in MA at the time. But many of the places listed seemed very Smalltown USA. Do you think that the listings were probably hometowns? What do you all say when someone asks where you were "born"?

(Of course, the question gets even more confusing when you consider we moved again when I was 3 and I have no memory of the first town I lived in. So my hometown is the place I lived from 3 to 17, but it always feels somehow like I'm cheating when I call it such.)

We moved around a lot when I was a kid. So I'd say the greater Los Angeles area is my home town.

I was born in Lake Charles, LA, moved to Melbourne, FL before I was 1, and my hometown is Tupelo, MS, where I moved at the age of 3 (right before my sister was born.)

I have no guilt about that.

I don't have a home town.

Brendon doesn't have a home town because he was an Air Force child. He was born in Biloxi, but was gone by age 2. I don't think he thinks of any place as his home town. Maybe Fort Lauderdale because that was where he landed when his dad retired.

My boys were born in Boynton Beach where the hospital was located, but I list Delray Beach as there place of birth since they made it here before they were 24 hours old. (and I would have had them at home if they let me!)

The internet is very quiet today. It makes procrastination much harder.

For some reason I thought you were a Chicago girl sumi. Where is your family?

whenever I go to any of the above, my brain thinks I'm going home.

I think that's kind of nice. I have a home, Chicago. But, I don't have a hometown. I was born in one city, lived in another city from age 3-10, another from 10-11, another from 11-18. My parents moved to another city when I was 18 and I went to college in yet another city. After college, I went to grad school in yet another city. After grad school, I lived with my parents for a year then moved to Chicago.

When I visit my parents, I don't think I'm going home. I think I'm going to visit my parents. Chicago is the only place I think of as going home. But, it's still not my hometown.

I was born about five miles from here.

The farthest I've lived from "home" as an adult was about 60 miles to the south.

I think this is mostly laziness and lack of drive on my part. I love Seattle, I understand Seattle, I know her to the marrow of my bones. I get cranky at newcomers who judge the city's introverted, passive-aggressive ways as somehow wrong and bad--we are a polite and suspicious people at heart here.

But I'm not in love with her.

And I know that someday, I'll probably part ways with her, because she's not exactly home.

No doubt Utica NY is my hometown. My mother was born there. I was born there and lived in the same house for my first 18 years. Then I ran as fast as I could and never looked back. There is a certain comfort of familiarity there, but never in this lifetime could I imagine living there by choice.

I've loved many of the places I've lived since then. Loved Norfolk, adored Pittsburgh, had a blast in Philly. Florida feels the most like home. After 26 years here I think I can call it my hometown now.

It seems unlikely I will stay here forever. Brendon isn't that crazy about it and there are a whole lot of cool places to live. We'll see what happens. I gave up long term planning long ago. I just go with the flow.