Expat Life Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
The expat life is often overly glamorized. Traveling at all times, meeting new people, and creating amazing memories. Social media accounts portray a “perfect life” of globetrotting excellence.
It’s bullshit.
Don’t get me wrong, there are exciting and rewarding experiences living the expat life. You DO get to travel, and you DO get to meet cool people. But those aspects aren’t 24/7, and they most definitely don’t last forever.
You’ll spend most of your time working the same as anyone else. You’re just doing it in a different setting than non-expats. The difference is that the people you meet along the way won’t be around you for long.
The Hardest Part of Being an Expat
Is the fact that the relationships you make and the connections you forge will undoubtedly be separated in due time.
Self-righteous expats will label themselves as “Wandering tribeless nomads stumbling through life, following where the wind blows” or some shit. Yet, the average expat genuinely wants some semblance of stability in their life.
One way to achieve this is through the friendships you make with others. Whether with locals or other expats, having a group of people to spend your time with genuinely improves the experience of expat life.
However, when you make friends with other expats you’ll eventually be spread out throughout the world. That’s how it works, “wandering nomads,” remember?
“But isn’t that just life in general, stupid author?”. Well, yes. But the struggle of people moving away is much more apparent when you’re across the world from your family.
If you’re lucky, you’ll make a good friend that will be around for a year or two before you part ways. Of course, we’re lucky to live in an age where we can communicate globally with the internet and whatnot. Yet even with that, the semblance of stability that the friend brought you has disappeared.
So why the hell did you write this?
Every day I see more and more blogs and posts overly-glamorizing expat life as heaven on earth. Some people making these posts believe they are a step above others because of their location or profession.
I believe these are a vocal minority, but that’s the problem. They are the vocal ones.
I wanted to share one example of how this life isn’t just butterflies, rainbows, and hopping flights to new countries. Some challenges come with pursuing the expat life.
Note: Don’t let my bitter-ass tone in this writing fool you. I do love being an expat, and I’m blessed to be in the position I am in to live in another country. I’m just frustrated by countless individuals glorifying their lives as if they’re the second coming of Christ or something. We’re just normal people doing shit in another country — we’re not special.
Enjoy the article? You might find these interesting as well:
