If you leave your country for a long time, it might be hard to go back. Here’s why, and how to prepare.
You don’t fit in anymore
Practically speaking, it’s easy to go back to your original country – sell your stuff and get on a plane. But when you get off the plane, you might discover that you’re in another foreign country.
“I don’t belong anywhere anymore,” returnees often say.
They think differently now, and few people in their home country “get” them. Their perspective has changed. They’ve had experiences that family and friends haven’t had and don’t find interesting. The returnee is supposed to just slot back into the life they left, but they don’t fit in that slot anymore.
Your home country got more expensive
While you were away having adventures, the cost of living in your home country could have outpaced your costs abroad. You might have a great standard of living in your current country, but your income will get you less in your home country.
Are you willing to lower your standard of living so you can be “home?”
Look out for the point of no return
Before you move abroad, try to imagine yourself 10 years later, maybe missing your family or craving a familiar setting and language.
Cultural changes or lack of change
Will you be okay with the fact that you might feel like an outsider if you went back? If cultural issues were part of why you left, have those issues improved?
Since social media distorts everything, you might want to talk to people who recently lived in your country. When I spent time with fresh-off-the-boat Americans, I realized how un-American I’ve become. I’m a fish out of water, while they’re still swimming in it.
Economic changes
Will you be able to live comfortably if prices at home have increased more than your income?
Periodically check prices back home. Are they approaching your limit? If so, decide if you need to increase your income so you could still go home and happily afford it, or decide that you’re staying abroad and letting that door close behind you.
Photo at top: Narva, Estonia on the left, and Ivangorod, Russia on the right. A ten-minute walk across the bridge will get you “home” to Estonia or Russia, but it’s not that simple.