The Expat Reality: Living Between Two Places
Let’s be honest! Expat life is not for the weak. It requires a lot of energy to learn how to belong to two places at once. For the majority of us, this means that we try our best to build our professional lives and careers in a foreign country, while our cultural roots and dearest people remain in another.
At first glance, it may seem that we get used to it with the time passing, however the little sense of nostalgia that we carry in our hearts still tie us closely to the people we left behind. All the special moments and life events that we shared once with them are now a distant memory. Even though we try to escape the feeling of losing our cultural identity by immersing ourselves in the new daily routine, we need emotional contact once again. It is for that reason that travelling back home transforms in more than just a trip. It is a way for us expats to take a break from the fast-paced reality by reconnecting and recharging our emotional batteries.
To be honest, the whole world seems to be adapting to this expat lifestyle that rises across Europe, but also globally. We owe it all to the privilege of the remote working setting that lets expats build international careers, but in the same time provides them with a certain extend of mobility. As a result, living abroad is now considered to be a part of people’s personal growth, and therefore traveling between countries has become increasingly common practice.
How Frequently Expats Return to Their Home Country?
Most expats visit their home from one to three times per year, however this frequency depends on how far away they are from their country, how flexible are the remote conditions of their job and last but not least, their budget.
On the other hand, it is noticeable that more and more expats living abroad in Europe tend to organize more frequent visits to their countries of origin. In those cases, their stays are shorter but always worth it. Those patterns reveal that most expats plan one major trip back home and several additional ones per year, if they can afford it.
Factors That Influence Expats’ Travel Decisions
“Should I Go Back for the Holidays?”
Although expats living abroad have the opportunity to always book the first flight home and are free to organize their going backs as it pleases them, there are several moments during the year when the quantity of people travelling back home could reach unspoken dimensions. Periods that trigger the question whether or not it is time to book the trip back home are the holidays. And even though expats have the emotional need to return and reunite with their families, there are still many of them who question their trip and prefer to spend the holidays away from home due to many factors.
The number one and most meaningful holiday season that brings many families around the world together is Christmas and New Year’s. For the majority of people leaving abroad the equation is simple – cultural traditions and family values are more important than limited vacation days.
Another ‘hot’ moment of the year for expat travelers are the summer holidays, especially in between the months June and August. Expats usually take advantage of this longer vacation time to organize their major trip back home, which is carefully planned in advance and will give them peace of mind for a little while before going back to their busy routine. However, some people living and working abroad occasionally take this time as an opportunity to travel around Europe as well, and by doing so, they divide their free vacation time between family visits and an exciting adventure.
The spring season doesn’t bring as much traffic of expats traveling home as the winter holidays, as it is shorter. But still, it represents a meaningful opportunity to ‘jump’ and spend a few days with your closest people, especially for those in Europe who can manage quick trips.
Ticket Prices Skyrocket: Expats Must Plan Ahead
Speaking of intense travel periods during the year, we have to mention the prices of tickets that tend to skyrocket for the holidays. For expats this usually is a big burden and represents a great challenge to find the best deal possible at the appropriate time.
The major increase of the ticket prices during the peak moments is mostly due to the seasonal demand of many travelers, among which expats, trying to reserve the same route. This is where the limited seat availability comes from as well, particularly concerning popular connections between big cities, which is a factor that pushing the prices higher.
The growing inflation in the last few years plays an important as well and just adds up to the financial pressure when buying tickets.
Last but not least, sometimes expats overthink until the last minute and book their trips hours before the departure which may cost them last-minute booking penalties and cause a serious turbulence in their financial stability.
Practical Tips for Newly Relocated Expats
After having said all that, it seems logical to give you some tips, especially if you are a newcomer to the expat lifestyle and you are still adapting to it:
· ‘Planning ahead’ should be our mantra, as this is probably the fastest and most effective way to transform your travels back home from frustration to emotion. As expats ourselves, we advise you to book your flights two to four months in advance, considering that this will insure you not to pay overpriced tickets for European routes. You can always use price-tracking tools, such as Google Flights and Hopper, to help you catch the best offers possible and to tell you when is the right time to book them.
· Speaking of planning in advance, organize your vacations, avoiding the peak travel days for expats, such as December 22-23 or January 2-4, when the airports are flooded with people traveling places. If you can assure yourself this flexibility by planning your journey in advance, do not hesitate and do it, as it could make a significant difference to your anxiety levels and contribute to a your stress-free trip home, as well as lead you to noticeable savings.
· Another way to save up some money around the peak traveling seasons is to choose an alternative airport that is not a big hub for travelers, as the ‘stay on ground’ taxes for airplanes there are lower, and therefore your ticket will be as well.
· If you do a route frequently, probably it would be a nice idea to check if airline you use offers loyalty programs that will provide you with long-term benefits, price reductions and priority services, so that you can feel like a true traveler!
Those tips could be really helpful for all new expats to set realistic expectations about the planning of the trips back home.
Why Does it Feel so Good for Expats to be Back Home?
Let’s go back to the root of the initial question: “How often do expats visit their families back home?”. In order to answer it, we need to ask yourselves “Why?”, why does it feel so good to go back home?
The truth is that maintaining strong connection with your family and returning to your roots fulfills needs that the life abroad very often cannot replace. After even just a few days with your favorite people you, as an expat, feel refreshed and reinforce your sense of belonging. Therefore, it is pretty normal if you feel the need to go back to your country…after all, you called this place home since your birth!
Another non-negotiable factor that brings joy to expats when they visit their closest people, are the family events such as weddings, birthdays, births etc. Those significant moments remind us to make time for those who matter the most.
Beyond these moments, a very powerful enemy for expats is the sense of nostalgia, as the distance have the tendency to reflect on their attachment to familiar places and their cultural habits.
But probably, and most importantly, being back home resets the emotional batteries of expats, who finally feel allowed to take a break of the ‘surviving’ mode they put on when living abroad. Knowing very well that expat life abroad is usually filled with numerous diverse challenges, even a few days with their families offer mental reset and allows expats to regain perspective.
Sometimes, the travels back to expats’ countries involve some paperwork, administrative tasks or taxes, however the most of the times return home driven by purely emotional reasons.
How to Establish the Expat Life Balance?
Many newly expats suffer finding the perfect balance when living abroad and having their families in another country. However, this type of lifestyle is a learning process on the go: you start learning at the very moment when you have to return home for the first time to everything known, but not pause your life abroad in the same time. While planning your days back home, expats gain the ability to retain and continue building their connections and relationships abroad.
It is almost like living in two parallel worlds.
At the end, expat life works best when you truly feel at home in more than one place, allowing many people chasing their dreams while keeping close the dearest people.