"Should I stay or GO?" SERIES
This is a collection of stories on how expats and repats around the world have grappled with the question whether to stay, move back home or move somewhere new.
I hope these stories inspire you to find the right answer for yourself.
STAY OR GO #14 – ““Instead of embracing my expat life, I constantly felt useless and wanted to hide”
Reading Time: 8 minutes The first few years abroad are often the hardest. But Melody’s rough start in the US shows that you can absolutely learn to love your life abroad.
STAY OR GO #13 – “sweden isn’t my cultural home”
Reading Time: 11 minutes Ella’s story isn’t a typical expat story. It’s a story about getting to know her Swedish side and finally realizing where her cultural home is – back in New York.
STAY OR GO #12 – “Somehow I just knew I needed to be in my real home”
Reading Time: 11 minutes It’s never too late to make a change in your life. Amy, an American serial expat, shares her story of why they uprooted their family from an idyllic life in Germany to repatriate to the US.
STAY OR GO #11 – “An overseas job has to benefit both partners in a marriage”
Reading Time: 8 minutes Marcie has been a “tagalong wife” her entire expat journey and had to face the dilemma of staying or going along a total of 8 times. Her incredible journey shines light on the times when it’s worth moving for your husband’s international career and when it is not.
Stay or Go #10 – “Adjusting to motherhood and living abroad stretched me to my limit”
Reading Time: 10 minutes No amount of research can prepare expats for the reality of becoming a new mom while adjusting to life in a foreign country. Should you stay or move back home then? This is the question asked by this first-time expat and new mom living in Japan.
STAY OR GO #9 – “If I want to be in this man’s life, I need to stay”
Reading Time: 9 minutes Deciding whether to stay or go on your own is hard enough. But how do you make that decision as a stepmom in an expat relationship? Marissa, an American expat in the Netherlands, shares her truth about such a reality.
STAY OR GO #8 – “I didn’t want to give up when things got challenging”
Reading Time: 6 minutes You can only prepare so much when you move abroad. So when things don’t initially work out as you had planned or hoped, it’s easy to start thinking about giving up. This is Emily’s story of how she chose to push through anyway and continue building a life in Munich, Germany.
When is it time to go home? 6 signs expats should look out for
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’re an expat wondering when is the right time to go home, here’s my ultimate list of signs to look out for.
STAY OR GO #7 – “It’s often hard to decide because we’re afraid to make mistakes”
Reading Time: 10 minutes Deciding whether to stay or go as an adult third culture kid can be next level complicated. This is something that Wiebke has faced several times as a serial expat. These days she works as an expat coach. In this post she shares how she helps her clients decide whether to stay or go.
STAY OR GO #6 – “No part of me was eager to start from scratch somewhere new” (American expat in Germany)
Reading Time: 9 minutes When a relationship breaks down while abroad, it’s easy to wonder whether you should stay or go. Nicole, a first-time American expat in Germany, chose to start a new life abroad alone. Read more about her thought-process and staying in touch with one’s inner voice.
STAY OR GO #5 – “I don’t know if I’ll always want to stay but for now the hardships are worth the rewards” (American expat in Italy)
Reading Time: 7 minutes Even when you feel like a foreigner and miss the familiarity of home, the rewards of living abroad can still trump the hardships. This is what Bella, a first-time American expat in Italy, has learned.
Stay or go? #4 – “Asking ‘should I stay or go?’ means that change is happening and no one but yourself can know the answer” (American expat in Morocco)
Reading Time: 9 minutes Expat life can be a recipe for identity crisis or profound self-growth. This is the path that Patti, an American expat, has been on since moving abroad in 2017. The experience has helped her realize that she is happy being away from the US.
Stay or go? #3 “Germany is the place where I grew up as a person but I miss my family and friends” (Soon-to-be Australian repat)
Reading Time: 12 minutes Even when you appreciate living abroad, after several years you may just want to move back home to be closer to friends and family. That’s what Simone, an Australian expat has decided to do after 5 years in Germany.
Stay or go? #2 “I thought this feeling was going to pass but it was difficult to get back into my life in New Zealand” (French repat-turned-expat again)
Reading Time: 8 minutes Moving abroad does not make us immune to depression or needing to work on ourselves. Camille, a French repat-turned-expat again, shares her story of overcoming depression and going through self-discovery which put her on a radically different path in life.
Stay or go? #1 “It seemed liked the universe was against us on living abroad” (First-time UK expat in Germany)
Reading Time: 8 minutes What would you do when your new life abroad meets one challenge after another? Steph, a first-time expat, shares how she went about deciding to stay on in Germany regardless of the challenges she faced at the start.