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by david-gpu 581 days ago
Yeah, people who have only spent a year or two abroad so not understand the consequences of staying there permanently.

Estranged friends and family. Aging and dying parents. Feeling like a foreigner in your country of origin (reverse culture shock). Your own children, at the end of the day, belong to a foreign culture rather than your own. Etc.
1 comments
bartvk 581 days ago
This. Big chance you'll lose all of your friends, and family ties will suffer greatly. One of my friends moved from Europe to Australia. I think I'm the only one that visited him.
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Aeolun 581 days ago
I mean, you should kind of expect that if you move to the other end of the world?
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david-gpu 581 days ago
It is one of those things that sounds "obvious" when somebody points it out to you, but I can tell you from personal experience and from several other people that when you are in the midst of moving abroad you have lots of other things in your mind and, frankly, rose colored glasses on.

What you find online tends to be the many people who spent a year or two abroad talking about what a cool experience it was, not long-term immigrants publicly admitting the downsides of their past choices. It is a very common feeling that is rarely spoken about outside of immigrant communities.

If you pay attention to the comments, you will find that the people who only talk about the positives of moving abroad either haven't done it, or did it but they went back to their country of origin. Where are the long-term immigrants --typically with spouses and children-- talking only about the positives? And for the many who return... if living abroad was so great, why did you move back? Why don't you tell people about that as well?

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munksbeer 580 days ago
>Where are the long-term immigrants --typically with spouses and children-- talking only about the positives?

Here. I'm an immigrant to the UK. I've been here 20 years. I love it here, except for the weather, which I miss from my home country.

I do miss a lot of other things, but all in all I've made my life in the UK and settled here with children.

I think I'm one of many, many millions of people globally who have done this and speak positively. I'm not sure why that seems far fetched to you?

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Aeolun 579 days ago
Living abroad is great. Not seeing your old friends so often any more is hard. But you have the same issue whether you move half the world or two hours away from them.
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