How long have you lived in your current location?

[dulcemariamar]

And how many total years have you been an expat?

Today is one year here! So this is the reason for my post. I have been an expat for 12 years give or take


how long did it take for you to feel like home for you? I tried really hard to get out there and meet people and join clubs, etc. But I am still finding it hard here. I miss living by family, living in a big city, and just the general lifestyle of living in Spain. Like there is nothing bad about Lux (except the weather) it just doesnt seem like a good match for me Has anybody else felt like this before? Do I just need more time?

[Cioccolato]

6 years. I don't feel like it's home, but I don't feel like the US is home either. I'm ok with it though.

[Cicero]

We've been in the US for almost a year. Before that it was two in KL, two in Geneva, and two in Prague. Since we'll be moving abroad again in a year I'm just going to say seven years total.

[jennybee1018]

We're on our 5th year in Doha (will officially be 5 years in August!).

This was our first expat assignment, so we've also been expats for 5 years.

We're in a very unique situation, since we work for an American university, with a lot of other Americans. It's definitely made it easier to meet people and make friends, but sometimes I feel like we're less of an ex-pat because we don't deal with the locals as often. I did meet some non-American friends through Zumba and other experiences, so that helps!

Doha is home for us, and it felt like that pretty quickly after we got here (maybe 3 months or so?). When we go to the US, I don't call it home. We often feel like outsiders when we are in the US, I think just because we have experienced things that others haven't. I'm slightly worried that I won't be happy when we move back to the US someday!!

[potatopie]

3 years here, plus 3 in Canada (I count that as expat experience because I had to communicate through skype and couldn't get a work permit!).

we've settled in very well here with jobs, living, and friends, but I've always felt this was a temporary stop. I'm getting very anxious for a change.

[MauMau]

I lived most of my life in my hometown. 1 year abroad and 2.5 years in a big big city. Now back in hometown. I'll probably stay here for the time being and the long run. I feel happier here even if I miss the adventure. I'm going to focus on always setting money aside for travel when I am working. I think that will be the best way for me to enjoy the adventure.

[Wanderista]

This is my off-and-on hometown, but I also feel like I have several other "homes" and I could easily be home in a lot of places. I don't have a singular definition of home. As the US goes, I like being here though I know of at least one other place in the States where I think I could be happy. This place has not always felt like home and sometimes I go through phases. I've also spent extensive time abroad and could easily do so again whenever circumstances arise. I'm one of those hybrid people and yeah, I'm ok with that. I don't think I ever want to think of myself as being totally settled in one place. Home for now? Sure. Home forever? I don't want to think like that.

[anna7602]

It took me a long time to get over missing life in Spain, dulcemariamar. As it is, I visited Spain four times in the year & a half I was living in France.

I'm not an expat, so am cheating by answering this. But I've lived in lots of different cities and places in the U.S. and internationally and some have felt great immediately, some took a while to warm up to and some just never felt right.

[rupertpenny]

I have been abroad for just over a month now. Never lived abroad before unless you count a summer studying in Germany in grad school, which I don't really.

Obviously I don't feel totally at home yet, but it hasn't been as bad as I'd expected.

I've also never felt totally at home anywhere really. I lived in one place until I left for college but I would never, ever want to go back to live there.

[americaninoz]

I've been in oz now 5 years, did 6 years in London and a year of travelling inbetween

[dorothyinAus]

I've been here 3 years. My house felt like home as soon as we got real furniture in it, so about 2 or 3 weeks after I moved.

It's interesting, Australia doesn't feel like home when I'm here, but when I'm not, I can only think of getting "home."

[loira]

In London, 5 years - I've lived abroad for 8 years now. London feels like home in the sense that we have a very regular life here. I know all the systems, we have favourite restaurants and love the city etc. Our flat does not feel homey because we live in a student residence. It's all very temporary. I'm keen to know where we'll be living when H graduates and to actually have somewhere I can decorate and make our own.

[mrsukyankee]

London for almost 10 years. It's very much home now as I don't plan to leave any time soon, though if we did, it'd be for a short stint in Asia and then back to London. I began to feel like it was home once DH and I got married and we owned a house together. It made if feel permanent. I was comfortable living in London after about six months - learned how to deal with 'customer service', began to learn to drive, etc.

[expatjen]

I've been in India (Bangalore and chennai) for 8 years now. Crazy!

[pittpurple]

I've lived in Scotland for just over 8 years now. Wow. That's actually kind of terrifying! I have no idea what 'home' means - I grew up in the states but left my hometown at 19 and none of my family lives there now. Actually, no one in my immediate family lives anywhere I've ever lived! So no idea what 'home' or 'forever' means in our situation.

[pippilongstocking]

I've been in Oz for almost 7 years now and it does feel like home. I think it took about 6 months to a year before it did. I was living with a friend when I first moved here and it was her house, so it didn't really feel like home. I think once DH and I moved in together it stated feeling like home because we had a place that was "ours."

[azure]

I've been an expat for 13 years and in France for 5.5 years. Before here we were in Vietnam for 7.

I feel at home here and love it, but it's not my forever place.

[UnderProtest]

6 weeks here and 6 weeks as an expat. I'm a newbie. I feel fairly comfortable here in our house, but I'm still trying to figure everything else out.

[oneslybookworm]

We moved back to the US a little over a year ago. It's gone by WAY too fast. We were in the NL for 3.5 years.

[lolo]

We've been in this part of the US for almost two years. We moved within that same area about nine months ago.

I am not sure it will ever be a 100% good match. The weather is fantastic and I love all the hiking. But the COL and being far from everything without outweighing cultural advantages...I'm just not sold on that.

I read once that it takes six months to feel settled somewhere and three years for it to feel like home. It felt a lot like that when I moved to London--definitely six months to feel settled but actually within six months of moving to Islington, I felt at home. I still think of it as my home, actually--that and my hometown.

ETA: We were expats for about three years. We are talking about trying it again--maybe back to London. Part of me feels like we should just move there permanently and another part is really hesitant because of being so far away and because salaries are lower than other places.

[paradebegone]

We've been in Munich for 14 months. And we have a short 6 weeks left on H's contract so we'll be returning to the States. I have mixed feelings about it. There are a lot of wonderful things about Munich and I'm not ready for our experience to end but I'm not sure I'd want to be here forever either.

I think we're both open to the possibility if moving abroad again. We certainly do not want to stay in the house/town we have in the States any more than a year or two. So we'll definitely be moving sooner or later. Where we'll be moving to is a big question mark.

[CakeLover]

4 years. It started feel like home the year after we went back to our home state for Christmas and had a horrible time with our families. I couldn't wait to get back here which I now consider my home. We are planning on going back in August to visit family and friends and I'm dreading it a bit.

[echo]

Have been in present location for five years,
but have been living outside the U.S. for over fifteen years now......most of my life.
I love where we are currently,and it certainly feels like home.
It is where I want to 'get back to' when away,but I do not see us staying here long term.....
makes me sad.I will miss it when we move on......