Why expats leave earlier than planned

You’re off on a new assignment! Isn’t expat life exciting - exploring new places with adventures around every turn! “Of course there will be some bumps in the road”, you think to yourself, “and it will take some time to get used to it all…but we’ve got this”.

But at some point things start to change…

You realize (as you scream at traffic every day) that you didn’t used to be this angry all the time. And your patience has somehow disappeared along with that initial excitement and adventure mindset.

And even on the best days, it can be pretty lonely. You realize that friends and family from home understand you less and less the more time you spend away from them, and you’ve made some local friends, but continually realize they don’t fully understand you either.

Plus, you wouldn’t admit it to many people, but your relationship at home with your spouse (or your roommates) is struggling. You push through, but you when you’re honest with yourself you know that your connection isn’t what it used to be.

Oftentimes, we don’t admit this until we finally realize we are headed down the road to the dreaded “burnout”.

www.SharetheLove.com on Reasons for Expat Failure

Relational Stress

A startling finding reveals that 33% of expats end up leaving their assignment earlier than planned due to family related issues. To me this shows that stressors of living overseas seep into other areas of life - and there’s not enough focus on taking care of ourselves and relationships with those closest to us - until it’s too late.

In her interview with us, mental health therapist Kelsey Hoff, shared with us, “living overseas has been stressful on our marriage, especially in the first year or so of living here. There were so many systems that we had negotiated while living in Canada that no longer worked in this context… it sure has taken a lot of intentionality, time, and commitment to live overseas and have a healthy marriage.”

There are so many aspects of being an expat that can enhance our lives, but the (often unspoken) truth is that we are often so bogged down by the pressures that we don’t enjoy it!

This is our primary passion here at Culture Dive… to bring out the beauty of expat life and help fellow global nomads leverage the challenges we face to come out on top!

If this sounds all too familiar, our package Adapt & Succeed Abroad offers the best resources for tackling the most common challenges that expats face. including nurturing relationships at home and abroad. Get in touch to learn more. You don’t have to do this alone.