Bianca Tzatzagos makes a case against maintaining a holiday home and, in the process, espouses her one true love.

As much as I love houses of all kinds, especially the idea of decorating houses, I have never understood the mentality behind a holiday house.

To me, the whole idea of travel is to create microcosms – mini temporary homes within unfamiliar places.

Part of the joy of travelling (and I’ll admit, my idea of travel isn’t the gritty kind) is the thrill of researching and pondering and choosing a wonderful place to stay.

That means immersing myself in the location and spirit of a place by finding boutique exemplars of that place.

I love the novelty of making home work within 15 square metres. I am always curious about what a designer’s optimal haven to rest, relax, rejuvenate and reinvent looks like. A transient home entirely different to my own. Somewhere that I haven’t decorated. Somewhere that inspires me to live differently for a week or two.

There’s also something to be savoured in being without the trappings of home. Even the most luxurious hotel room is there to remind us that we are away, for better or worse.

Unfamiliar lighting, sounds, smells and surfaces are to be enjoyed, sure, but they also hone our senses to what we love – or need to improve – about our own place.

When you lose the dream of a holiday home, you lose the fuss and obligation of decorating, maintaining and returning to the same place.

By definition, the concept of home is singular. So invest in a single home. Invest everything in it. Be monogamous to it.

Then when you travel, do it from an unfamiliar base. Be elsewhere.