home away from home

Meaning

A place where you feel as comfortable, welcome, and relaxed as you do in your own home, even though you are traveling or living elsewhere.

Examples

• The cozy bed and breakfast in Vermont quickly became our home away from home.

  The cozy bed and breakfast in Vermont quickly became our home away from home.

• I've visited this seaside cottage so many times that it feels like a home away from home.

  I've visited this seaside cottage so many times that it feels like a home away from home.

• The hotel staff made us feel so welcome that the resort truly became our home away from home.

  The hotel staff made us feel so welcome that the resort truly became our home away from home.

• For many digital nomads, a favorite local café serves as a home away from home.

  For many digital nomads, a favorite local café serves as a home away from home.

• She spent every summer at her grandmother's cabin, which was her home away from home.

  She spent every summer at her grandmother's cabin, which was her home away from home.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ This hotel is a second home far from home.

  ✓ This hotel is a home away from home.

  The standard, fixed idiom is 'home away from home' (or 'second home'), not a hybrid of the two.

• ✗ I felt like home away from home there.

  ✓ It felt like a home away from home.

  The phrase is a noun phrase, so you say something 'is' or 'feels like' a home away from home, not that you 'feel like' it.

Related Expressions

Practice

• With its warm fireplace and friendly hosts, the cabin was a true ___.

  💡 a place as comfortable as your own house

  Show answer

  home away from home

• After staying at the boutique hotel for a month, it became my ___.

  💡 comfortable temporary residence

  Show answer

  home away from home