Whether you’re returning to your home country to visit or returning in order to repatriate, your home country is not going to be the same country as the one you left.
Contents
Returning to your home country, what to expect.
Here are just some of the things you can expect to encounter and have to deal with upon returning to your home country from abroad:
- Reestablishing closer connections with those you left behind.
- Making new friends.
- Many of those whom you had been close to your whole life simply do not understand you anymore.
- If you haven’t been working in your field, you will need to explain the gap in your resume.
- Having to reestablish your credit, get a new place, furniture, getting all your utilities in your name and connected to your new place.
- Transportation. If you’re in the US you will need a car. You also need car insurance.
- Getting Health Insurance.
- Realigning and getting your financial house in order, preparing for your eventual retirement.
- You will need to find new people you can connect with. Not easy since your interests will have changed.
- You will also find that those who you were close to have moved on and you will need to move on as well.
You see, returning to your home country after being abroad, especially repatriating and reestablishing yourself, is often way too similar to moving to a new country, without the necessity to acquire new language skills.
You’ll even have to re-acclimate to the culture of your “home country” once again after being abroad, like getting up to speed on the latest TV shows or Sports teams etc.
Visiting home after living abroad experiences.
When you’re visiting home after living abroad even for 6 months, you’ll find that most people you know will barely even ask you about your life and what it’s been like living abroad.
In fact, that’s one of the first disappointments you’ll come across when returning to your home country after living abroad.
Everyone you know will want to update you on their “exciting” lives, but none will want to hear about yours.
Why do Expats return home?
Expats return home for a variety of reasons. Many return home just for the occasional visit. They catch up with old friends and family, treat themselves to a few indulgences that they’ve missed while being abroad etc.
Many Expats go for holidays. For example, many Expats will return home for Christmas. It’s usually the most popular time of year for Expats to return home. Others will return home for weddings or other special occasions.
Many Expats will return home for their summer holidays, etc.
However, Expats also return home in order to repatriate back into their home country. Repatriation can be a very daunting experience for the Expat who’s not prepared for it as well.
In fact, it could be even more daunting than their first move abroad to a foreign country. Why? It’s all about expectations.
You see, when you move abroad for the first time, you pretty much anticipate potential difficulties like learning the local language and getting used to local cultures. You expect that you will be different and that you will need to adapt. Everything’s all new and exciting.
You won’t normally underestimate the challenges of living abroad either. If you have a habit of moving countries every few years, this will have even become routine.
However, when you return home to your home country, your expectations are normally higher. You sort of “let down your guard”, sort of speak.
You take things for granted. You don’t prepare for the challenges of repatriation. Some of which I’ve listed at the beginning of this post.
These challenges can be even more overwhelming and disorienting than moving to a new country.
Bottom line is, manage your expectations. Treat moving and returning to your home country as you would moving to a new one. Because in many ways it will be.
I want to go back to my home-country, is it too late?
In theory, it’s never too late to move back home or at least your home country. However, moving back to your home country will be challenging.
In fact, the longer you have lived abroad and outside of your home country, the more difficult and challenging going back to your home country and repatriating will be.
Many Expats underestimate just how challenging moving back to their home country is.
Many Expats also over exaggerate the importance of their own experiences abroad. They think that because they’ve overcome many challenges of life and living abroad, that employers and people back in their home countries will value and appreciate them more. This simply, for the most part, is not the case.
In fact, don’t be surprised if many people back home treat your living abroad time and experiences as nothing more than an extended vacation.
This realization will leave many Expats feeling deflated and could strain their confidence levels.
Therefore, although it’s never too late to move back to your home country, don’t take everything for granted and underestimate the challenges that you will have ahead.
This is especially true, if you’ve spent many years abroad.
How do I move back home after living abroad?
In order to mitigate the challenges of moving back home after living abroad, you should approach moving back home in a similar way you approached moving to a foreign country.
Because in many ways moving back to your home country after spending a lot of time living abroad will be.
The advantage that you will have repatriating and moving back to your home country will be that you already speak the language and still have quite a few remaining connections.
Whether they’re friends and business contacts you’ve kept in touch with or even just family. You’ll have that leg up which is more than you had when you first moved abroad.
Second, you’ll need to start networking and look for professional and job opportunities in your home country. This is best done before you move back home. Having interviews and opportunities lined up is a great head start. You can easily do this online.
Next, you’ll want to look into living arrangements and accommodations. Again using online resources is a great first place to start. However, if you have connections already on the ground you might want to ask around a network through them. This will not only give you the lay of the land as far as what’s available, but also the costs.
Thirdly, you’ll need to start looking around for a car. (This is mostly for those in the US.)
Again, using whatever network you have, first asking them etc. This will give you a good idea of what to expect.
Also many people skip going to car dealerships all together nowadays and buy their cars online. Again, using your connections back home. Ask questions, you may have to re-educate yourself on how to buy a car for example, especially if you’ve been away for a long time.
Your questions might seem a little juvenile, but if you simply explain to them that you’ve been out of the game for a while and you’re trying to re-acclimate yourself and refresh your memory, many of them will be understanding.
You can even contact car dealers online, negotiate the purchase and possibly fill out lease or car loan agreements online as well. Don’t forget the car insurance.
When you first land, you’ll either have to arrange with family or friends for a place to stay temporarily or you may even have to rent an Airbnb in your hometown, if that’s not possible for a couple weeks while you get more permanent accommodations arranged.
Let’s not forget that if you don’t have a car in the US, you’re pretty much stuck. So you may have to rent a car for your first week on the ground.
You’ll need that car to go looking for accommodations, arranging for a more permanent car etc. Also, don’t forget the job interviews and other networking you’ll need to do once you’re on the ground running.
For all this, again, you’ll need a car. If you’re lucky you’ll have a relative or a friend who can loan you one of theirs.
However, if you’re not so lucky you’ll have to rent one. Best to do this at the airport when you arrive.
And of course finally, you’ll have to go on your job interviews, get furniture (because in the US, most apartments and houses come unfurnished) and slowly get acclimated.
Once your basics, like your accommodations, your job, your transportation etc. are pretty much settled, then you can work on the more psychological and relationship aspects of repatriating.
Returning to your home country, conclusions.
Returning to your home country can be just as much of a culture shock as arriving in a new one. Sometimes even more so.
However, if you have a game plan and approach returning to your home country in the same way or similar as you had moving to your new foreign country, your transition back home should go fairly smoothly without many bumps.
If you are returning to your home country just for a visit, again, manage your expectations. Not everyone, in fact, most, aren’t interested in your life abroad.
It’s surprising because you would think that exotic locations, living in different countries etc. would be a very interesting topic that people would want to learn about and talk about.
However, you’ll soon find that 90% of the time, people won’t care and can’t relate. So don’t go about bragging and trying to show off how interesting your life is compared to the lives that you’ve left behind.
Have a little understanding that not everyone wants to be a world adventure. Some may even be intimidated by it and not know how to relate to you. So take it in stride.
Use your trips back to your home country as a way to recalibrate, eat some food that you’ve missed, have conversations with family and friends that you’ve been wanting to have and simply enjoy your own culture for a change.