{"id":1326,"date":"2013-04-05T12:44:47","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T11:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/?p=1326"},"modified":"2018-04-16T14:53:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T13:53:01","slug":"returning-home-after-living-abroad-not-as-easy-as-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/2013\/04\/05\/returning-home-after-living-abroad-not-as-easy-as-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning Home after Living Abroad? Not as Easy as Expected!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"p.coming_home01\"<\/a>Undoubtedly, expat life can be very exciting. The experiences and challenges of life abroad develop one as a person, teach new skills and enhance capabilities, create new meanings in life, and generally translate into valuable memories, which are worth remembering for many years ahead.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the young generation gets involved with a globally mobile lifestyle already during their formative years, by planning for university studies and the first valuable working experiences abroad. According to a Unesco report<\/a>, by 2009 there were 3.4 million students on the move each year, and the number is expected to grow. Students get more globally mobile than ever before. For many, experiencing globetrotting before \u2018settling down\u2019 at home becomes very sought-after. However, when it is time to pack up and head back, the reality of repatriation turns out to be not as easy as expected.<\/p>\n

As noted in a recent International Herald Tribune article<\/a>, there is \u2018the dark side of expat life\u2019. The comments provided in the article imply that young people living away from their home countries feel somewhat \u2018stuck in limbo, neither here nor there\u2019. This feeling is quite understandable given that for many, life in the host country is perceived as temporary, however as time passes \u2018home\u2019 in the native country becomes more distant. The main concern is that while being temporarily abroad, the lives of one\u2019s peers, relatives and friends back home move on too: families get established, careers progress and house mortgages get paid. And even though equipped with new skills, experiences and prospects, at the moment of repatriation the recent traveller finds him\/herself in a situation where a job needs to be found, new accommodation arranged, and social ties renewed.<\/p>\n

This is how the problem is reflected by the young generation:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve watched as peers back home have married, had children, bought houses, advanced in their careers. Meanwhile, most of us here in Seoul find ourselves living Peter Pan-like existences. I\u2019m entering middle age with nothing tangible to show for it\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI do worry whether I should return and put down roots permanently for once in my life\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSo should I go home pre-emptively and try to build a life there? But therein lies the expat\u2019s problem: there\u2019s nothing back home for me now\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0(\u201cThe Dark Side of the Expat Life\u201d By THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well, plainly speaking, the solution to such \u2018rootless\u2019 situation is quite simple, as it is up to only two choices: either settle abroad, or return back home. As discussed, returning back home may not be easy, and indeed, it may be perceived as starting all over again. However, there are ways of making such transition more positive. The following tips will make repatriation easier:<\/p>\n