--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's what the American odyssey is…" description: "\"That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.\" — Tom Bodett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png" --- # That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving… ![“That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.” quote by Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png) > “That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.” [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The American journey involves leaving home, returning, and understanding the contrast between departure and return. **In simple terms:** America’s story is about leaving and returning home, learning the difference. Key Takeaway Embrace change and reflect on growth. Themes migration identity homecoming self discovery cultural narrative Mood reflective nostalgic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - immigration - family reunions - personal development - cultural integration Key Concepts nostalgia reflection transformation Questions to Reflect On - What does “home” mean after change? - How does leaving shape identity? A Different Perspective Returning may bring new challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American Odyssey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-odyssey-3520368/) [Coming home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-home/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Home Coming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home-coming/) [Home Leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home-leaving-267650/) [Leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving/) [Leaving home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving-home/) [Odyssey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odyssey/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [American Odyssey' will be an amazing adventure inside the musical walls of our cities. It's theater, and radio has always been great theater to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-stuart/american-odyssey-will-be-an-amazing-adventure-inside-the-musical/) [Marty Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-stuart/) > [I'm coming home I'm coming home Tell the world I'm coming Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-coming-home-i-m-coming-home-tell-the-world-i-m-coming-let-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The hardest part about what I do, the most vulnerable place is my relationship with my family and Sara, my amazing partner, because I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-franti/the-hardest-part-about-what-i-do-the-most-vulnerable-place-is-my/) [Michael Franti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-franti/) > [“Writing is the only way to run away from home, without ever leaving.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/writing-is-the-only-way-to-run-away-from-home-without-ever-leaving/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Men dream more about coming home than about leaving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/men-dream-more-about-coming-home-than-about-leaving/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Where we sail and anchor our heart fill up the multitude odyssey paving to the coming home of our soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-hopes/where-we-sail-and-anchor-our-heart-fill-up-the-multitude-odyssey/) [Angelica Hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-hopes/) > [Nothing feels better then coming home. Nothing feels better then leaving home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-feels-better-then-coming-home-nothing-feels-better-then/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Why were these people seeking a new home coming to Israel and not to America? Where had the American dream faltered? And he saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/why-were-these-people-seeking-a-new-home-coming-to-israel-and-not-to/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [I'm coming home. I'm coming home, tell the World I'm coming home. Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dirty-money/i-m-coming-home-i-m-coming-home-tell-the-world-i-m-coming-home-let/) [Dirty Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dirty-money/) > [“Three years of changes, moves, uncertainties, upheavals; the war, the revolution; scenes of destruction, scenes of death, shelling, blown-up bridges, fires, ruins—all this turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/three-years-of-changes-moves-uncertainties-upheavals-the-war-the/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“As his (C. S. Lewis's) good friend Owen Barfield once remarked, Lewis radiated a sense that the spiritual world is home, that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-c-downing/as-his-c-s-lewis-s-good-friend-owen-barfield-once-remarked-lewis/) [David C. Downing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-c-downing/) > [It's not like I'm sitting at home coming up with some secret beauty plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-stone/it-s-not-like-i-m-sitting-at-home-coming-up-with-some-secret-beauty/) [Lara Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-stone/) > [It's nice to have some continuity you can come back to. I feel that in coming home, coming back to London.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/it-s-nice-to-have-some-continuity-you-can-come-back-to-i-feel-that-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [It's not like I'm sitting at home coming up with some secret beauty plan. I try to eat fruit and be healthy. If I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-stone/it-s-not-like-i-m-sitting-at-home-coming-up-with-some-secret-beauty-2/) [Lara Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-stone/) > [I wonder if ever again Americans can have that experience of returning to a home place so intimately known, profoundly felt, deeply loved, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-wonder-if-ever-again-americans-can-have-that-experience-of/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More by Tom Bodett > [Kids in Alaska don't know they're growing up on the Last Frontier. It's just what they see on the license plates, and it's something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/kids-in-alaska-don-t-know-they-re-growing-up-on-the-last-frontier-it/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [Did you ever notice that nobody you see on television looks like anyone you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/did-you-ever-notice-that-nobody-you-see-on-television-looks-like/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [It's not like Alaska isn't wilderness - it mostly is. But most Alaskans don't live in the wild. They live on the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/it-s-not-like-alaska-isn-t-wilderness-it-mostly-is-but-most-alaskans/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [What you hear is southern Michigan, not a drawl, but a halting kind of speech where you leave spaces when there shouldn't be any.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/what-you-hear-is-southern-michigan-not-a-drawl-but-a-halting-kind-of/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [My work is still very much light-hearted, positive outlook, laugh at yourself. But it isn't going to be the laugh-a-minute kind of thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/my-work-is-still-very-much-light-hearted-positive-outlook-laugh-at/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [Americans are generally very self-sufficient and I think generally averse to pretension, just as I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/americans-are-generally-very-self-sufficient-and-i-think-generally/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [I'm real. I believe what I'm saying. If Motel 6 wasn't the type of operation they say it is - and I stay at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/i-m-real-i-believe-what-i-m-saying-if-motel-6-wasn-t-the-type-of/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [Like most Alaska immigrants, my roots continue to petition for equal time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/like-most-alaska-immigrants-my-roots-continue-to-petition-for-equal/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [Could the garment and appliance industries be in cahoots together, creating an artificial sock demand to keep us buying?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/could-the-garment-and-appliance-industries-be-in-cahoots-together/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/they-say-a-person-needs-just-three-things-to-be-truly-happy-in-this/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [Mine is not a story to tell struggling writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/mine-is-not-a-story-to-tell-struggling-writers/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [The difference between an optimist and a pessimist? An optimist laughs to forget, but a pessimist forgets to laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/the-difference-between-an-optimist-and-a-pessimist-an-optimist-laughs/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [I know how to make adults laugh pretty well. I don't know if kids think I'm that funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/i-know-how-to-make-adults-laugh-pretty-well-i-don-t-know-if-kids/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [Professor Al Drake encouraged me to just write the way I talk. I decided if that's what I needed to do, I didn't need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/professor-al-drake-encouraged-me-to-just-write-the-way-i-talk-i/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [I went to Alaska as a young man just looking for adventure. And like so many of us in the '70s, we found it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/i-went-to-alaska-as-a-young-man-just-looking-for-adventure-and-like/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) [Explore all 31 Tom Bodett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) ## More Coming home quotes > [Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/everything-comes-home-my-mother-used-to-say-every-word-spoken-every/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [I was interested in all kinds of things, whether it be Avatar, Mad Men, Troy, 300, Battlestar Gallactica, or the poems of Horace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/i-was-interested-in-all-kinds-of-things-whether-it-be-avatar-mad-men/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [Everyday happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can't wait to finish your breakfast. You can't wait to do your exercises. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/everyday-happiness-means-getting-up-in-the-morning-and-you-can-t-wait/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [To be polite to everybody except the people they love most is a nervous affectation that afflicts many families ... when they come home,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fishback/to-be-polite-to-everybody-except-the-people-they-love-most-is-a/) [Margaret Fishback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fishback/) > [This is my idea of heaven, coming home and watching the news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-moreno/this-is-my-idea-of-heaven-coming-home-and-watching-the-news/) [Rita Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-moreno/) > [“And when I look into his eyes there’s a feeling of something I can only describe as familiarity, a sense of safety. Like coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-james/and-when-i-look-into-his-eyes-there-s-a-feeling-of-something-i-can/) [Rebecca James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-james/) > [My greatest fear is coming home one day and discovering that the slim and sexy woman I married has become fat and shapeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-zee/my-greatest-fear-is-coming-home-one-day-and-discovering-that-the-slim/) [MO'Zee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-zee/) > [Seeing my children makes me come most alive. I come home and I see my kids' faces light up when they see me at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-patrick/seeing-my-children-makes-me-come-most-alive-i-come-home-and-i-see-my/) [Richard Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-patrick/) > [I wouldn't just come home from school and watch TV everyday, they had me involved in lots of local theatre. I was a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-washington/i-wouldn-t-just-come-home-from-school-and-watch-tv-everyday-they-had/) [Kerry Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-washington/) > [“Where we sail and anchor our heart fill up the multitude odyssey paving to the coming home of our soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-hopes/where-we-sail-and-anchor-our-heart-fill-up-the-multitude-odyssey/) [Angelica Hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-hopes/) > [I can see you through any darkness. Your light it leads me on. I'm coming back to your orchard. Coming back to my home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lizz-wright/i-can-see-you-through-any-darkness-your-light-it-leads-me-on-i-m/) [Lizz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lizz-wright/) > [Coming back to your calling. I can hear your voice say. Coming home for tomorrow from my dreams of yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lizz-wright/coming-back-to-your-calling-i-can-hear-your-voice-say-coming-home-for/) [Lizz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lizz-wright/) > [It all begins and ends in the same place, doesn't it? Conor and me in Ballyutogue. We all come home eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-uris/it-all-begins-and-ends-in-the-same-place-doesn-t-it-conor-and-me-in/) [Leon Uris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-uris/) > [“Yes, she’s coming home for a visit. No, I will not give you a free pass. You put one finger on her, I’ll beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/yes-she-s-coming-home-for-a-visit-no-i-will-not-give-you-a-free-pass/) [nalini singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [“I let it all out: the joy and the pain. The waiting and the wanting. The future and the past. We kiss for so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katia-rose/i-let-it-all-out-the-joy-and-the-pain-the-waiting-and-the-wanting-the/) [Katia Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katia-rose/) [Browse all 1,175 Coming home quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-home/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Bodett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-really-about-leaving-home-leaving/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Coming home" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-really-about-leaving-home-leaving/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/tom-bodett-20459_coming-home_that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-real_2811144.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to…” — Tom Bodett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Bodett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That's what the American odyssey is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-really-about-leaving-home-leaving/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/that-s-what-the-american-odyssey-is-really-about-leaving-home-leaving/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```