Moving wasn't in my game plan for this year but I'm planning to make the best of it. I honestly thought, when I arrived back here less than five years ago (on eclipse day if you were wondering), that I would never depart soil again. But never say never and here I am returning to Buckinghamshire, where I lived for six years through the Nineties. But throughout those years Norfolk was always home. In fact, it always has been, no matter where I've been. I could claim that only those people who have lived outside Norfolk at some point in their lives really know how to love it. But whether you've discovered the county's charms, you've been here all your life or you're one of those people who has moved back after a period of absence you'll know what I mean when I say that Norfolk is "home." This last remained a puzzle to my friends and neighbours in Buckinghamshire, where I lived for six years. "I'm going home for the weekend," I would say, just before a trip to Norfolk. "Surely your home is here?" they would query, not quite understanding. How can you explain why you feel a sense of place about passing the "Norfolk" sign as you enter the county? Or why the pine forests of Thetford feel like a gateway (though there are people who would prefer a drawbridge at that particular point) and why the vast open skies (yes, I know that's a cliché – but it also happens to be true) the other side of the forests cause a deep intake of breath?

There are other people who feel passionately about their own areas of the country. There's a song, "Maybe it's because I'm Londoner that I love London so," that seems to sum up Metropolitan sentiments and a Scouser's attachment to Liverpool is legendary. But as far as I'm concerned Norfolk's the place for me. Buckinghamshire, don't get me wrong, has plenty to recommend itself. Hills – they're a plus point, some stunning scenery and woodland, another bonus, and a collection of friends I was very sorry to leave behind five years ago. It's also less than an hour's train ride from London. A lot of my thoughts have been down there recently, but while I'm remembering all that I like about Buckinghamshire I'll recount all the things I love about my home county.

Let me nail my colours firmly to the mast from the outset and say that I'll miss Norwich enormously. I know it has its dirty, downbeat, down-at-heel areas but it is also vibrant, exciting, ancient and modern, lively, interesting, stimulating and inspiring. I'll miss its cathedrals (I like to ensure people know there are two) and the dominating castle; I'll really miss the St George's area, the art college and The Playhouse, I'll miss shopping in John Lewis (or Bonds as I shall insist on calling it long after everyone else has forgotten the bumble bee that was its symbol), and Jarrolds (with an "s" please) and I'll miss the small independent retailers that make shopping in the city such a pleasure. I'll miss the jumble of market stalls and the Royal Arcade, and I'll even miss the terrible traffic and awful parking.

I'll miss the bitingly cold winds that, in Norfolk parlance, are "lazy," by which, as any Norfolk person knows, we mean they'd rather go through than around you. Then there's the freshness of the breeze in summer that you can't explain but you certainly miss when you're stuck inland in a vale that suffers notoriously bad air quality. And since we're talking about being inland, let me just say that where we are moving to is about the farthest point from any coast that you can possibly be – there's even a signpost stating that fact somewhere, though I've never sought it out – it's not something to be boasted about in my book.

I'll miss the abundance of churches not just in Norwich but across the county too. The huge flint-built places of worship constructed with wool money centuries ago that seem at odds with the sizes of their small villages have always given me pleasure. I like the fact that certain things in Norfolk just don't seem to add up. I'll miss the peculiar spellings that baffle non-locals – just how did Garboldisham become Garblesham and why is Wymondham, Windham and who in their right minds thinks Happisburgh is pronounced Haysborough? Keep up the good work – that's what I say. Keep doin' different. Let people who don't know about Norfolk continue thinking it's full of turkey-farming, carrot-growing, wheat-harvesting yokels. I used to get quite indignant when such statements were thrown at me by fellow teenagers I met out of the county. But bit by bit I have learnt that we Norfolk lovers can have the last laugh. Leave the rest of the country to go elsewhere to find what passes for idyllic living. Let them think we're stuck behind tractors travelling at 10 miles an hour and we're foraging for fun at a barn dance on a Saturday night. But to those who have discovered the pleasures of Norfolk and who are lucky enough to live here all I ask is that you don't spread the word too loudly. It can be our little secret and remain the place I can come home to.