There comes a moment in every expat’s life when they suddenly realise that they are now a fully fledged, bona fide expat.
Think back to all the things that seemed off the charts when you first arrived, that now you just take for granted.
If you mention the word “home” in conversation and you don’t mean your country of origin, this post is for you!
The team at Tag Wealth International have pulled our list together of the surefire signs that you’ve officially become an expat. Do any of these ring true?
You really know you are an expat when….
- The traffic doesn’t seem bad any more and you now rarely (if ever) close your eyes or hang on to the nearest door handle with a white knuckle grip. After all, you’re still alive aren’t you?
- You are no longer phased by dodgy plumbing. You got bored of hunting down “proper” toilets and now just get the job done.
- You start shopping in local markets for local produce. Trying to eat western is a mug’s game after all (and who knew just how many types of soy sauce there are?)
- You stop converting the price of everything into your home currency. It’s irrelevant, it gives you a headache and your mad muttering of numbers always made you look crazy!
- You enjoy eating rice with every meal… though you’d murder for a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.
- You start to hallucinate about food you never cared about at home, just because you can’t have them. You and your mates always think up elaborate schemes to get a steady supply of these essentials
- You miss your family (but not how they used to pop in unannounced). You now have lots of notice before your in-laws visit (which means you can plan an out of town business trip to unfortunately coincide)
- You have a better social life than when you were in college. Who said older necessarily means wiser?
- You don’t own a house but you do have a share portfolio in a tax haven building up for when you pull the cord.
- Work is still work but the holidays are off the charts… scuba at sunset anyone?
- You know this life has an expiry date, so you are banking the bucks but at the same time, YOLO is your inner mantra.
Have we missed anything off this list?
We’d love to hear what you think!
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