Q I: What advice would you give to your pre-expat self?
The advice that I would give to my pre-expat self would be to above all else keep positive. Life is about how we tackled the challenges in our life and it will not always be easy. Since becoming an expat I have had to deal with finding employment, getting approved to rent from a leasing agent without credit in England and not having a guarantor, and cultural issues with co-workers The most stressful being this time last year when my husband and I were both without jobs, a lease ending soon, not knowing how we would afford to live two months down the line, and our kids were all the way back in the US with grandparents. It was a stressful time. However in the end my husband got the perfect job in just the nick of time, we found a new place to live, and we moved to Bath with our sons that joined us just a couple of days before Christmas. Of course life is always easiest to view in hindsight. However, things work out the way they are meant to be and it is better to remain really positive than to let the negative affect you.
Q II: How do you reconcile what you thought life would be like in your new home and what it is in actuality?
I thought we would be able to have done a lot more traveling than we have now. Granted, between my husband and I we have traveled to four different countries outside of the UK. However I thought my sons would have seen several countries in Europe by now and so far they have only been to England and Wales. Traveling is just a lot more expensive when you have a family of four. While my passports are not collecting stamps we are taking advantage of the area we live in with country walks and visits to see nearby towns. Technically we will not be able to travel out of the UK for about six months anyways since our passports are with Ryan’s current ILR visa application. I am looking forward to finally traveling with my boys outside of the UK and reliving the childhood my parents chose for my sister and I.
This was a link up for the Expat to Expat:
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