Life After Abroad

What is life like after living abroad? In a word, challenging. Although being an expatriate itself is no walk in the park, the adjustment period upon returning is even harder in my opinion. The home you once knew no longer feels like home and the place you called home for a little while isn’t truly home either. To me, this can be summed up in a single phrase – home is not a place, but a mixture of feelings, people, and interactions.

“Simply put, being an expat is such a lengthy and deep international experience it brings about great professional and personal changes. You see old norms and values from your home country from a fresh perspective, and expats and their families see things in a new light; something like Dorothy going from black and white to Technicolor.”

Expatica.com

I like to describe life as a repatriate as being in a constant state of limbo. Your heart doesn’t fully belong to one place. And although you have changed, somehow, people expect you to be the same. The passage of time, immersion into different cultures, and exposure to adverse people, languages, and experiences changes you. It certainly changed me. It might sound corny (because it probably is), but living abroad has been the single best thing that I’ve ever done. It took a ton of courage, strength, and perseverance. Don’t get me wrong – there are many more admirable feats to applaud than what I accomplished, but to put it bluntly, I’m fucking proud. I’m proud of the person my experiences have molded me into. I’m proud of my perseverance in the face of adversity and I’m proud of going after what I truly want.

So often, people are afraid of change, and rightly so. Change is scary. But if we’re not actively trying to grow and change throughout our daily lives, what does that make us? For me, complacency isn’t an option. I want to continue to learn and grow and to put myself out there, despite my fears. There are so many life lessons that I’ve learned in my short 28 years and I know there are infinitely more to learn. I’m always reading, researching, and debating complex new ideas. I think that living abroad had that effect on me. Before, I was comfortable with where I was at in life (both literally and figuratively) and wasn’t interested in delving into anything deeper than absolutely necessary. I wasn’t interested in the “what if”. Now, I am a catalyst for knowledge and change. The wheels are constantly turning and I’m always excited to learn something new (mundane or otherwise). Being complacent used to be my normal, my comfort zone even.

My life as an expatriate has shown me that there’s so much to life than I could’ve possibly imagined. Maybe that’s why I find it difficult to connect with those who knew me before my time abroad (excluding a precious few). My world and mindset have changed so vastly that I hardly recognize my high school or even college self. Once you put yourself out there and allow change in, there’s no going back. I’m aware that I might sound a bit uppity or “new age-y”, but that is certainly not my intent. The last thing I want to do is judge someone for their life choices and/or personal experiences. I also acknowledge what a privilege it is to have lived in Prague and vow to not take that for granted. Some people have a lifelong dream of traveling the world. Others (like my father, for example), have no desire to travel and are content living their life in one secure place. Neither option is wrong and neither makes us superior or inferior to one another. The experiences that I share are mine and mine alone. Someone in a similar position may have had a completely adverse experience – and that’s OK too. There’s no right or wrong way to feel. Our differences are what make us unique. Whatever your idea of what a fulfilled life might look like, I hope this gives you the “push” to go after what you truly want.