I’m about to embark on my own journey as an expat. I’ll be living in Paris with my EU husband.
I speak good French and having lived in France twice before for 9-mo stints each, I am familiar enough with French culture to empathize with the negative and positive critiques that people share on this subreddit. In other words, I know what to expect.
Nonetheless I am still nervous about the move; fitting in, finding a community, finding my tribe. I’m nervous about feeling like I’ve made a colossal mistake to sell everything and move here.
The truth is is that reading this subreddit does not make me féel very optimistic. I read posts lamenting the move abroad, the regrets you have, the challenge adapting, and none of which are unwarranted! I get it Expat life is difficult!
……But my question is…is there anyone here who is happy with their decision to have moved abroad?
I was abroad for almost 15 years many different countries. The only time I was unhappy was when I lived in my last country, Canada. That was very rough and I couldn’t wait to leave and go home after that. Which was ironic considering the fact that that there was no language barrier and it being most similar to my home country’s culture than all the other places I’ve lived.
If you don’t mind me asking, what are some reasons you were unhappy in Canada? Just wanted to compare experiences.