Expat fears? What about them?

Are you sometimes scared as an expat? That’s only natural, most expats have fears, big or small, more or less hidden. Big changes in your lives are the first scary steps to that new life you’ve been planning. And, of course, once you move abroad, things don’t always seem so shiny, on the contrary. At first, it can be just a long line of challenging, sometimes sad moments. And frightening ones. But, you’re not alone, just so you know and expat fears are made to be faced. Someone famous must have said that, right?

What if I don’t fit in?

As much as you want to be part of the new community, you’re still an outsider. What if people don’t like me? you’d ask yourself. Persistence is the answer for that. let everyone get to know the amazing person you are. And, in time, you might find that your accent is cool and delightful for others after all.

Will everyone forget you?

You can’t stop time from running by, so you have to accept that things will be changing in your absence. Cousins will marry, friends will celebrate their birthdays with awesome parties…things will go on without you. You’ll probably see these important events posted on Facebook and Instagram. There will be visits home, probably, but time will go by so quickly, that you won’t be able to catch up with everybody. And, sometimes, you might be the one forgetting about them, as you’ll be living in different rhythms and even time zones. Don’t panic, it’s normal, nobody’s losing their memory.

Will it ever feel like home again?

One big expat fear is to never feel like home again and living somewhere in between worlds. We might sound predictable now, but this is normal too 🙂. Not less scarier, but normal. You’ve left your homeland to move to, sometimes, a completely new country and culture. In years of living there, you’ll surely “borrow” some things from this new culture, but you’ll always have the old cultural norms with you. You will loose some, but definitely win some. All your experiences will make a new, stronger person.

And we leave this for you, you can always face fears by dancing them away😉.