There is so much that aches to be told but can hardly be said when one moves to another country. As it happens, from time to time, I find myself falling into a state of muteness. Expats go through a deeply nuanced process known to those who have packed their lives into big shipment boxes… Continue reading This undeniable isolation, and things some expats avoid openly talking about
People see you, and yet they don’t. Instead of looking your way, they are looking way past you. Someone asks you a question, but oddly doesn’t tune in to your response. They make polite conversation with no intent to go beyond scratching the surface. They nod, they linger a little, but they neither see nor… Continue reading Being underestimated is a gift in disguise
Lately, I have been half-lamenting my lack of deeper connections. I have been craving to find that elusive spot where I can safely express my fears and insecurities, navigate my confusions and expose my vulnerabilities with neither judgment nor false comfort. It has been more than two years since we expatriated, leaving the home, people,… Continue reading Missing those deeper connections
“Sometimes chaos is the very thing that deliberately shakes up our neatly ordered worlds in order to get us out of the neatly ordered ruts that have kept us stuck,” says Craig Lounsbrough. I just stumbled into a place commonly called a limbo. There are three big things that may have brought me here: becoming… Continue reading When being lost is okay
In multiple ways, I was prepared to do well as a first-time expat leaving my country, family, friends, career, routines, lifestyle, and almost everything that I knew too well. My husband and I decided to move to the Middle East when he accepted a new position. I “retired” from my career as assistant vice president… Continue reading What I didn’t expect about being an expat
For weeks, I’ve fallen into the habit of over-rationalizing everything, suspending emotions over reason, getting too busy to pause, and keeping a neutral face amidst all the hasty changes that come with goodbyes.
A few weeks from now, I’ll pack my life in boxes to live overseas for the first time. I’m leaving with my husband carrying the role that I’m still slowly coming to terms with: a trailing spouse. Although we have known of the move for five months now, the spiralling emotions take over as the… Continue reading Thoughts of an Imminent Trailing Spouse
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